D.M. HARISH MEMORIAL GOVERNMENT LAW … · Rules of the 19th D.M. Harish Memorial International...

19THD.M.HARISHMEMORIALGOVERNMENTLAWCOLLEGE

INTERNATIONALMOOTCOURTCOMPETITION

9TH-12THFEBRUARY,2018

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19thD.M.HarishMemorialGovernmentLawCollegeInternationalMootCourtCompetition,2018

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INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE COMPROMIS

BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF VEDDER (APPLICANT) AND THE DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION OF TYLER (RESPONDENT)

TO SUBMIT TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARTIES

CONCERNING THE VEDDER CRISIS jointly notified to the Court on 9 August 2017

COUR INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE

COMPROMIS LA REPUBLIQUE DE VEDDER (DEMANDEUR)

FÉDÉRATION DÉMOCRATIQUE DE TYLER (DÉFENDEUR) VISANT À SOUMETTRE À LA COUR INTERNATIONALE DE JUSTICE

LES DIFFÉRENDS QUI OPPOSENT LES DEUX PARTIES CONCERNANT CRISE VEDDER

notifié conjointement à la Cour le 8 Août 2017


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JOINT NOTIFICATION

ADDRESSED TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE COURT

On behalf of Republic of Vedder (“the Applicant”) and the Democratic Federation of Tyler

(“the Respondent”), in accordance with Article 40(1) of the Statute of the International Court

of Justice, we have the honour to transmit to you an original of the Compromis for

submission to the International Court of Justice of the Differences between the Applicant and

the Respondent concerning the Vedder Crisis, signed in The Hague, The Netherlands, on the

first day of August in the year two thousand seventeen.

Bruce Plant

President of The Republic of Vedder

Mick McCartney

Ambassador of the Democratic Federation

of Tyler to the Kingdom of The

Netherlands


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COMPROMIS

SUBMITTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE BY THE REPUBLIC OF VEDDER AND THE DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION OF

TYLER ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PARTIES CONCERNING THE VEDDER CRISIS

The Republic of Vedder and The Democratic Federation of Tyler,

Considering that differences have arisen between them concerning the Vedder Crisis and

other matters;

Recognizing that the Parties concerned have been unable to settle these differences by

negotiation;

Desiring further to define the issues to be submitted to the International Court of Justice

(hereinafter referred to as “the Court”) for settling this dispute;

In furtherance, thereof the Parties have concluded the following Compromis:

ARTICLE 1

The Parties submit the questions contained in the Compromis (together with any Corrections

and Clarifications to follow) to the Court pursuant to Article 40(1) of the Statute of the Court.

ARTICLE 2

(a) It is agreed by the Parties that The Republic of Vedder shall act as Applicant and The

Democratic Federation of Tyler as Respondent, but such agreement is without prejudice to

any question of the burden of proof.

(b) The Parties stipulate that any reference to “The Republic of Vedder” or its government

officials, including President Plant, in this Compromis is without prejudice to Respondent’s

contention that The Republic of Vedder is no longer a state.

ARTICLE 3

(a) The Court is requested to decide the Case based on the rules and principles of

international law, including any applicable treaties.

(b) The Court is also requested to determine the legal consequences, including the rights and

obligations of the Parties, arising from its Judgement on the questions presented in the Case.


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ARTICLE 4

(a) Procedures shall be regulated in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Official

Rules of the 19th D.M. Harish Memorial International Moot Court Competition, 2018.

(b) The Parties request the Court to order that the written proceedings should consist of

Memorials presented by each of the Parties not later than the date set forth in the Official

Schedule of the 19th D.M. Harish Memorial International Moot Court Competition, 2018.

ARTICLE 5

(a) The Parties shall accept any Judgement of the Court as final and binding upon them and

shall execute it in its entirety and in good faith.

(b) Immediately after the transmission of any Judgement, the Parties shall enter into

negotiations on the modalities for its execution.

In witness, whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorized, have signed the present

Compromis and have affixed thereto their respective seals of office.

Done in The Hague, The Netherlands, this first day of August in the year two thousand

seventeen, in triplicate in the English language.

Bruce Plant

President of The Republic of Vedder

Mick McCartney

Ambassador of the Democratic Federation

of Tyler to the Kingdom of The

Netherlands


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**COMPROMIS**

REPUBLIC OF VEDDER V DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION OF TYLER

CASE CONCERNING THE VEDDER CRISIS

1. The Republic of Vedder (“Vedder”) is a Communist country comprised of 17 small

islands located in the Western Pacific. Vedder is a member of the ‘Communist Club’;

an Economic Union comprising of Communist countries in Eastern Europe and

Northern Asia. Other members of the Communist Club include The Communist States

of Cobain (“Cobain”), The Republic of Jagger (“Jagger”), The Kingdom of Cornell

(“Cornell”) and the Islamic State of Osborne (“Osborne”).

2. Nuclear tests carried out by the Democratic Federation of Tyler (“Tyler”) in the North-

West Pacific Ocean in the early 1950s rendered 10 out of the 17 Vedder islands

uninhabitable. Since Vedder's population at that time was only 80000, most of its

population was relocated to the remaining seven islands without complications. Vedder

and its people lived an almost peaceful existence. Towards the end of the 20th century

the habitable Vedder islands were threatened with rising sea levels.

3. By the year 1998, 20 percent of the Vedder Islands were underneath the Pacific waters.

It was predicted by scientists researching Climate Change at the Cobain Institute of

Technology that by 2025 80% of the Vedder Islands would be submerged. Their

research also added that given the topography of the islands any remedial measures

such as building sea walls would be futile. However, rapid global warming coupled

with increased seismic activity in the Pacific led to a faster than predicted sea level rise.

By 2013 all but one of Vedder’s islands, named Stump, were submerged. Finding it

impossible to sustain Vedder’s entire population on Stump, the Vedder Parliament on

15th October 2013 gave President Bruce Plant the power to enter into negotiations with

the Prime Minister of Cobain for possible relocation options. Vedder had always

maintained excellent relations with Cobain and for years had relied on aid, technology

and food imports from Cobain. In return for its help, Vedder had supported Cobain at

the United Nations and other similar international platforms.


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4. Recognizing the long-standing history between the two countries, the Prime Minister of

Cobain, Mr. Johnny Paige offered to sell a small part of Cobain to Vedder to enable the

latter to relocate its population and government. However, people in Vedder had a

strong attachment to their island nation and were optimistic about relocating back to the

Vedder Islands in case sea levels normalised in the future. Thus, President Plant and

other top cabinet leaders involved with the relocation negotiations felt that committing

to buying new land would be detrimental to their political careers. Therefore, on 1st

January 2014, Plant and Paige instead negotiated an agreement to lease (“Lease

Agreement”) an area of 100,000 Sq. Km in Cobain to Vedder for 50 years at an annual

rent of 25 million dollars. The Lease Agreement also provided for a buyout option to

enable Vedder to purchase the leased area for a one-time payment of 10 billion dollars.

The area covered by the Lease Agreement comprised a part of the Jared Mountains and

the Leto Plains in Cobain. At the foothills of the Jared mountains there was large urban

settlement called Stikine. The settlement had been abandoned in 1973 when the mining

activity in the area had shut down. In the Leto plains, there were a few nomadic tribes

and temporary mining workers belonging to the ‘Stonewall Corporation’ who had

licenses to operate coal and steel mines in the region.

5. Stonewall Corporation is the world’s largest multinational corporation headquartered in

Tyler with interests in practically every major industry. Stonewall Corporation also

owns the Stonewall Bank which was listed as one of the financial institutions ‘Too Big

to Fail’. In 2012, post a global financial crisis, Stonewall Bank was bailed out by Tyler

under The Tyler Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2012 (TEESA). Post the

bailout, Stonewall Bank still remained part of the Stonewall Corporation which was

responsible for its day to day workings, however, 56 percent of the bank’s shares are

now owned by the Tyler Treasury.

6. Post the finalizing of the Lease Agreement, President Plant decided to unofficially name

the leased area as Fort Stump as a tribute to the last surviving Island of Vedder. Fort

Stump had an extension of the Jared Mountains to its east, the Cobain States of Grohl

and Novoselic to the north and south west respectively. Fort Stump also shared a border

with the landlocked Tyler in the south east. The Jared Mountains was a rugged region

known infamously as the hiding space of the Banthrax - an insurgent group that

demanded independence for Grohl and Novoselic. The Banthrax were allegedly behind


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the 2011 attacks on the Cobain Senate, which had resulted in 17 casualties and 23

injuries.

7. On 15th January 2014, Cobain and Vedder entered into the Treaty on the Operation of

the Republic of Vedder from Fort Stump. The relevant provisions of the treaty were

a. Article 3 - (a) Vedder will be allowed to maintain only as many armed personnel

on Fort Stump as is necessary for the maintenance of internal peace and security.

(b) The armed personnel will be predominantly a Police force. However, a

symbolic Military Force can be stationed.

b. Article 4 - The question of ‘How many armed personnel is necessary’ will be

decided on a yearly basis by the Cobain Ministry of Defense which will issue a

list of armed personnel, light arms and heavy equipment that can be retained by

Vedder in Fort Stump.

c. Article 5 - Cobain undertakes full responsibility for Vedder's defense against any

external aggression.

d. Article 9 - Vedder will not disrupt (a) the tribals living in Fort Stump (b) mining

activities being undertaken in Fort Stump.

e. Article 11- Cobain will not allot any new mining licenses in Fort Stump.

f. Article 13- Vedder has the right to undertake any mining operation in Fort Stump

as long as such activities are not in contravention of Article 9 of this treaty.

8. On 25th January 2014, The Vedder Parliament passed the Relocation to Fort Stump Act

2014 (“Relocation Act”). This act specified all the particulars pertaining to the

relocation of the Vedder Government and population to Fort Stump. According to the

Relocation Act, the Vedder government promised all of its inhabitants a) free relocation

to Fort Stump b) free food, clothing, and housing at Fort Stump for a period of 18

months post relocation c) the promise of creating jobs and rebuilding lives at Fort

Stump in the coming years. In February 2014, the relocation process began and by

December 2015, 50 percent of the population of Vedder was relocated to Fort Stump.

Reviving the main urban settlement of Stikine proved more difficult than what was

envisaged. Creating smaller agricultural communities in the Leto plains was taking a

long time. Unhappy with progress of the relocation plan and fearing for their survival,

most of the remaining population of Vedder went to the immigrant friendly Tyler where


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they were permitted to enter and stay under a special Visa for “Environmental

Refugees”. Not a single Vedder citizen chose to stay behind on Stump and consequently

Stump was deserted. As of the date of this Compromis, despite rising sea levels, Stump

still exists as an uninhabited island in the Western Pacific.

9. Aided by substantial loans to the tune of 70 billion dollars from the International

Monetary Fund, Cobain, and other members of the Communist Club, Vedder got its

relocation plan in place. By January 2016, Vedder had managed to successfully operate

its Parliament, Supreme Court and Police headquarters out of Stikine. For its remaining

infrastructure and governance, Vedder still continued to rely on Cobain. Vedder had

announced that elections to its Parliament would be conducted in September 2017.

Numerous countries including Tyler expressed skepticism at international levels over

the continued statehood of Vedder and maintained that the government operating out of

Fort Stump was only a sub-entity of Cobain. Tyler’s Ambassador to the United Nations

Mr. Roger Barrett had made an official statement that “Vedder had sunk out of sight of

the International community and had ceased to exist as a country”. However, 19

countries recognized that Vedder was now operating from Fort Stump. In fact, by 1st

January 2017, six non-Communist Club countries opened their embassies in Stikine. On

22nd March 2017, Vedder entered into a regional fishing agreement with all the other

members of the Communist Club.

10. Right from day one at Fort Stump, The Vedder Police Forces kept a tight watch over the

Jared Mountains for Banthrax members. In January 2017, acting on information from

the Cobain Intelligence Bureau, its defense forces in a joint operation with the Cobain

Airforce raided a Banthrax Camp and captured 16 of its members. Among the captured

Banthrax members was a 16-year-old Tyler Citizen Al Punk. Punk was a computer

whiz kid belonging to an impoverished Tyler family who, in exchange for money,

assisted the Banthrax in hacking into Cobain systems and stealing sensitive data. All the

16 captured Banthrax members were kept in the Mordor on the outskirts of Stikine in

Fort Stump. Mordor was a military compound opened in 1961 by Cobain. On relocation

Cobain vacated the compound and handed it over to Vedder. Currently Mordor is being

used to station the symbolic Military Force of Vedder.


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11. On 1st April 2017, the 16 captured Banthrax members including Al Punk were tried by

a Special Vedder Military Tribunal for terrorism and sentenced to death. The Ramones

News Network (RNN) featured an entire twenty-four-hour coverage on Al Punk. RNN

was Tyler state owned news agency that was detested by the Communist Club countries

due to its vicious criticism of communism. RNN described the military tribunal that

sentenced Al Punk and other members of Banthrax as a “Kangaroo Court where the

accused weren’t even given proper representation”. It further criticized the imposition

of the death penalty on the underage Al Punk as being “spineless and contrary to all

norms of law and morality”. This news spread like wildfire in Tyler and significant

pressure mounted on Tyler’s President Ms. Caren Grump to intervene. As a result,

Grump used all available diplomatic channels in Cobain to avail consular access to Al

Punk and have his case retried by an appropriate court.

12. The Cobain Ministry of External Affairs released a statement on 1st May 2017 stating

that “The issue surrounding Al Punk’s conviction is a domestic issue of the Vedder and

Cobain cannot intervene in it”. In fact, Prime Minister Paige released a follow-up

statement that read “The 15 members of the Banthrax are Cobain citizens. However, out

of respect for Vedders Sovereignty, Cobain will not interfere in Vedders internal

criminal process”. In response to Paige’s statement, RNN ran a special segment where

notable foreign policy experts discussed how the only reason Paige did not intervene

was to bypass Cobain’s 1992 moratorium on the death penalty and have the Banthrax

members executed in Vedder. All this while, the Vedder Government maintained that

the 16 individuals were tried per established military procedures in Vedder. Further

because of the grave crimes for which members of the Banthrax were tried, they were

not entitled to consular access.

13. On 15 May 2017, outraged by the lack of cooperation from Prime Minister Paige, Tyler

instituted proceedings against Cobain at the International Court of Justice. Tyler relied

on a 1957 Bilateral Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries as

well as the Compulsory Jurisdiction Clause of the International Court of Justice for

jurisdiction. On the very next day after the institution of the case, the President of the

International Court of Justice, Dame Koro Mercury in accordance with Article 74(4) of

the International Court of Justice Rules wrote to Prime Minister Paige “The

International Court of Justice requests Cobain to act in such a way which would enable


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the implementation of any order the International Court of Justice may issue in the

case.”

14. On 25 May 2017, before the International Court of Justice could adjudicate on the

preliminary issues in the case concerning Al Punk, Mr. Freddie Rose, the CEO of

Stonewall Corporation, informed President Grump that he had conclusive evidence that

Al Punk is currently in coma in a government facility in Cobain. When the news of this

broke out, Prime Minister Paige offered a statement on 25th May stating “Cobain was

informed by President Plant regarding Al Punk´s severe condition 12 hours ago,

following which he was immediately transferred to a medical facility in Cobain. The

official diagnosis of the Cobain doctors is that Al Punk contracted botulism while

awaiting death sentence in Mordor which led to his condition. Immediate steps will be

taken to ensure Al Punk is transferred to hometown in Tyler.” On 26th May 2017, Al

Punk was air lifted to Tyler and admitted at the Intensive Care Unit at the Coachella

Hospital in Woodstock, the capital of Tyler.

15. On 1st June 2017, Wikileaks released about 5000 documents on its website. While

most of the leaked documents contained irrelevant backdoor communication pertaining

to the relocation of Vedder to Fort Stump, two of the leaked cables happened to be

rather noteworthy. The first of these, titled ‘Document XXX’ described how Mr. Rose

had details of Al Punk’s present condition. It underlined that the information was

obtained by kidnapping and torturing a Vedder Police Official in their company’s

mining premises in Vedder. For years, Human Rights Organizations like Human Rights

Watch and Amnesty International argued that Tyler used Stonewall Corporation to

carry out nefarious activates on behalf of Tyler all over the world in exchange for

significant business benefits. However, these accusations were always refuted by both

Stonewall and Tyler. The second of these leaks titled “File Financial Information” were

a series of wire transfer statements from a Stonewall bank account belonging to the

Tyler Federal Bureau of Investigation to bank accounts believed to be linked to

numerous sympathizers and members of Banthrax. In a Skype interview from

Washington DC to RNN, Mr. Bono Hetfield, President of the International Non-Profit

Privacy Global, described these leaked cables as “as authentic as it gets.”


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16. At 11.33 am on 10th June 2017, Al Punk passed away at the Coachella Hospital. The

autopsy report declared severe brain damage as the cause of his death. The autopsy

report also mentioned the possibility of brain damage occurring due botulism to be

negligible. It stated that such brain damages are generally a result of severe brain

trauma. On 11th June 2017, in response to the leaked Wikileaks cables, the heads of

Cobain, Vedder, Jagger, Cornell, Osborne met in Cobain’s capital Zeppelin. In a joint

declaration titled “Response to State Sponsored Terrorism by Tyler,” all the five

countries of the Communist Club closed their land, naval, and aerial borders for travel

and transport to and from Tyler. They also expelled all Tyler diplomats and ordered all

Tyler citizens to leave their territory within seven days. The websites of RNN were

blocked and its offices were shut down in all the five countries. Further, with the

exception of Stonewall Global Bank which was considered integral to international

finance, The Stonewall Corporation was asked to cease all operations in the Communist

Club Countries. The declaration stated that all these measures would continue to be in

effect unless Tyler:

a. Stopped all association with Banthrax.

b. Permanently shut down the RNN and all its affiliated agencies.

c. Ceased all efforts to deny the continued statehood of Vedder.

17. Since Tyler was a landlocked country encompassed by Cobain, Vedder, Jagger, Cornell,

Osborne; it found itself in a complete lockdown. No individual could leave Tyler, and

only Tyler citizens who were expelled from the five countries of the communist club

were permitted to enter. However, being one of the most industrialised countries in the

world as well as having self-sufficiency in food and natural resources, Tyler did not

face short term complications. President Grump issued a statement calling the

Wikileaks cables as “fake news” and stating that “The Blockade by Cobain, Vedder,

Jagger, Cornell, and Osborne, is illegal and contrary to International Law.” On 3rd

June 2017, in response to the blockade, President Grump strong-armed Mr. Rose to put

a freeze on all Stonewall Bank accounts belonging to either the countries of the

Communist Club or their citizens. One of the blocked accounts belonged to Vedder and

contained the aid money that it had received from the IMF and members of the

Communist Club. By 15th July, Vedder funds had started running out and President

Plant reckoned that even if he spent only on necessities, he would not be able to run the


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country for more than three months. President Vedder declared an economic emergency

in Vedder and put on hold the first elections of Vedder on Fort Stump indefinitely.

18. Due to the freeze on the Stonewall Global Bank accounts, financial conditions had

worsened in other countries of the Communist Club, and none of them were in a

situation to assist Vedder any further. All diplomatic communications between Tyler

and members of the Communist Club had broken down. As a last resort, President

Grump approached the United Nations Secretary General Mick Bowie. The United

Nations Secretary General advised Vedder and Tyler to settle their dispute before the

International Court of Justice. Initially, Tyler refused this suggestion stating that Vedder

is not a state and any proceedings before the International Court of Justice is a mockery

of the International Dispute Resolution Process. However, Tyler, at the instance of

Secretary General Bowie, agreed to approach the International Court of Justice on the

condition that by doing so it does not prejudice its contestation of Vedders statehood.

19. Consequently, on 1st August 2017 both Vedder and Tyler approached the International

Court of Justice with a joint notification. The International Court of Justice was

confronted with the following issues:

a. Whether Vedder is still a state and accordingly can the International Court of

Justice exercise jurisdiction?

Further, without prejudice to any question of admissibility of claims and of evidence

b. Whether Vedder has violated international law in relation to its treatment of Al

Punk?

c. Whether the measures imposed by Vedder as a part of the joint declaration in

“Response to State Sponsored Terrorism by Tyler,” is permitted under

International Law?

d. Whether Tyler’s role in the freezing of Vedders Stonewall Bank account is

contrary to International Law?

20. The United Nations General Assembly in its forthcoming session was to deliberate on

matters raised by member states pertaining to existence of Vedder and its UN

membership. However, post the joint notification to the International Court of Justice,

Secretary General Bowie released a press statement on 2nd August stating “The United

Nations is putting on hold all discussions relating to The Republic of Vedder and its UN


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Membership until the final decision of the International Court of Justice. In the

meantime, Vedder’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations won’t be affected and it

will continue to operate as a full member of the United Nations.” The United Nations

Secretary General speaking at an International Law Symposium at Government Law

College, Mumbai expressed how he wished that the International Court of Justice would

be able to end the deadlock without any hard feelings on either side.

21. Tyler along with all the five members of the Communist Club are members of the

United Nations and have without any reservations accepted the ipso facto compulsory

jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Tyler has signed and ratified the

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, The Vienna Convention on Consular

Relations, Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of State Property,

Archives and Debts, The Convention on Rights and Duties of States, The Convention

on the Rights of the Child, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The Convention Against Torture, The

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, The Kyoto Protocol, The Paris Agreement on

Climate Change, The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, International

Air Service Transport Agreement, The Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of

Refugees and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.None of the members of the

Communist Club have signed or ratified any of the aforesaid mentioned instruments.

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