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Panorama, Armenia
July 30 2010
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to seek ICJ ruling over its status
Panorama.am questions Hovhannes Nikoghosyan - a Research Fellow from
Yerevan-based Public Policy Institute, over the ICJ Kosovo ruling and
its implications over Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Panorama: Mr. Nikoghosyan do you believe, at the end of the day, ICJ
ruling will have its say in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue?
Nikoghosyan: Thanks for the question indeed. Well, I guess the
implications should better be derived from the ruling, but most
importantly ` also from the proceedings. Here I want to share 2
points. Firstly, the proceedings and the statements made by different
countries at ICJ make the real atmosphere of change in the
international relations when it comes to the issues of territorial
integrity, inviolability of frontiers and self-determination. This
change is of legal nature, not political. For instance, the
representative of United Kingdom said that (ICJ oral statements, para.
13-14) unlike Northern Cyprus or Palestine, the UN Security Council
"had not called upon the international community not to recognize
Kosovo", while UN SC Res. 541 (1983) declared the independence of
Northern Cyprus as unlawful. Similarly, nor the UN SC, neither the
OSCE (which is mandated as the sole mediator) has ever declared that
Nagorno-Karabakh independence is unlawful, even though no state ever,
including Armenia, has ever explicitly and de jure recognized the
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, what we should derive from
this ruling is the fact that international court declared that a
unilateral declaration of secession is hence a legal norm.
Secondly, some reports and rumors have spread these days that Armenian
authorities, co-signed and co-authored with NKR authorities are about
to circulate a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly, asking the
advisory opinion by ICJ over the legal force of the Constitutional
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, which took place in December 2006. The
only obstacle for this to happen, is the reservation made by the
National Assembly of Armenia (decision N-131-1, Oct. 23, 1996) with
regard to Article 66 of Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which
requires the mandatory consent of all parties to any particular case
before applying to an international court or arbitration. This might
be an utmost fascinating development of the peace process.
From: A. Papazian
July 30 2010
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to seek ICJ ruling over its status
Panorama.am questions Hovhannes Nikoghosyan - a Research Fellow from
Yerevan-based Public Policy Institute, over the ICJ Kosovo ruling and
its implications over Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
Panorama: Mr. Nikoghosyan do you believe, at the end of the day, ICJ
ruling will have its say in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue?
Nikoghosyan: Thanks for the question indeed. Well, I guess the
implications should better be derived from the ruling, but most
importantly ` also from the proceedings. Here I want to share 2
points. Firstly, the proceedings and the statements made by different
countries at ICJ make the real atmosphere of change in the
international relations when it comes to the issues of territorial
integrity, inviolability of frontiers and self-determination. This
change is of legal nature, not political. For instance, the
representative of United Kingdom said that (ICJ oral statements, para.
13-14) unlike Northern Cyprus or Palestine, the UN Security Council
"had not called upon the international community not to recognize
Kosovo", while UN SC Res. 541 (1983) declared the independence of
Northern Cyprus as unlawful. Similarly, nor the UN SC, neither the
OSCE (which is mandated as the sole mediator) has ever declared that
Nagorno-Karabakh independence is unlawful, even though no state ever,
including Armenia, has ever explicitly and de jure recognized the
legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, what we should derive from
this ruling is the fact that international court declared that a
unilateral declaration of secession is hence a legal norm.
Secondly, some reports and rumors have spread these days that Armenian
authorities, co-signed and co-authored with NKR authorities are about
to circulate a draft resolution in the UN General Assembly, asking the
advisory opinion by ICJ over the legal force of the Constitutional
referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh, which took place in December 2006. The
only obstacle for this to happen, is the reservation made by the
National Assembly of Armenia (decision N-131-1, Oct. 23, 1996) with
regard to Article 66 of Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which
requires the mandatory consent of all parties to any particular case
before applying to an international court or arbitration. This might
be an utmost fascinating development of the peace process.
From: A. Papazian