Singapore to study closely Malaysia’s application for revision of ICJ’s Pedra Branca ruling

Singapore has formed a legal team to respond to Malaysia’s application for a revision of the International Court of Justice’s ruling on the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement Friday (3 February).

“Singapore is studying Malaysia’s application and documentation closely,” MFA said, adding that the legal team includes Attorney-General Lucien Wong, Professor S. Jayakumar, Professor Tommy Koh, and former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.

MFA noted that ICJ’s ruling on 23 May 2008 regarding the sovereignty over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks, and South Ledge “was final, binding and without appeal”.

ICJ ruled then that sovereignty over Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore, sovereignty over Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia, and sovereignty over South Ledge belongs to the State in the territorial waters of which it is located.

MFA noted that under Article 61 of the Statute of the ICJ, “an application for revision of a judgment may be made only when it is based upon the discovery of some fact of such a nature as to be a decisive factor, and which was, when judgment was given, unknown to the Court and the party claiming revision.

“Such an application must be made within ten years of the date of the judgment, and at latest within six months of the discovery of the new fact.”

Earlier Friday, Malaysia cited “new facts” in its application for a revision of the ICJ’s ruling on the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.