Declarations recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory

Norway

24 June 1996

I hereby declare on behalf of the Royal Norwegian Government that Norway recognises as compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other State accepting the same obligation, that is on condition of reciprocity, the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in conformity with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court, for a period of five years as from 3 October 1976. This declaration shall thereafter be tacitly renewed for additional periods of five years, unless notice of termination is given not less than six months before the expiration of the current period; provided, however, that the limitations and exceptions relating to the settlement of disputes pursuant to the provisions of, and the Norwegian declarations applicable at any given time to, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and the Agreement of 4 December 1995 for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, shall apply to all disputes concerning the law of the sea.

It is requested that this notification be communicated to the governments of all the States that have accepted the Optional clause and to the Registrar of the International Court of Justice.

New York, 24 June 1996.

(Signed) Hans Jacob BIORN LIAN,

Permanent Representative of

Norway to the United Nations.