ICJ: Third Party Intervention

Article 62 "Should a State consider that it has an interest of a legal nature which may be affected by the decision in the case, it may submit a request to the Court to be permitted to intervene."

Article 63: "Whenever the construction of a convention to which States other than those concerned in the case are parties is in question, the Registrar shall notify all such States forthwith."

The Court has taken a restrictive approach to third party intervention. For what concerns intervention under article 62 (interest of legal nature), the Court denied requests to intervene in four cases (Continental Shelf (Tunisia/Libyan Arab Jamahiriya), Application for Permission to Intervene by Malta, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1981, at 3; Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Malta), Application for Permission to Intervene by Italy, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1984, at 3; Nuclear Tests (Australia v. France) Application for Permission to Intervene by Fiji, Order of July 12, 1973, ICJ Reports 1973 at 320; Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v. France) Application for Permission to Intervene by Fiji, Order of July 12, 1973, ICJ Reports 1973 at 324.), while a Chamber of the Court permitted a limited intervention to Nicaragua in a maritime aspect of the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras), Application for Permission to Intervene, Order of February 28, 1990, ICJ Reports 1990, at 3.). The full Court permitted a limited intervention of Equatorial Guinea in the case concerning Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria), Order of October 21, 1999.).

 Conversely, for what concerns intervention under article 63 (construction of a convention), the Court has rejected it in one instance (Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. US), (request by El Salvador) Declaration of Intervention, Order of October 4, 1984, ICJ Reports 1984, at 215) and allowed it in another (Haya de le Torre (Colombia v. Peru), (request by Cuba), Judgment, ICJ Reports 1951, at 71.) .

Source: http://www.pict-pcti.org/matrix/discussion/icj/icj_thirdparty.htm