Frenchman Gilbert Guillaume appointed as Singapore's ICJ judge for Pedra Branca case

Singapore has chosen veteran French judge Gilbert Guillaume as its judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Pedra Branca case. PHOTO: WWW.UNMULTIMEDIA.ORG

SINGAPORE - Singapore has chosen veteran French judge Gilbert Guillaume as its judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the Pedra Branca case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday (March 2).

Under the Statute of the ICJ, if there is no judge of the nationality of the parties on the Bench of the Court, the parties may each choose a judge ad hoc who will take part in the decision on the case.

Malaysia had applied to the ICJ last month for a revision of the 2008 judgement which awarded the island to the Republic.

Mr Guillaume was a Member of the ICJ from 1987 to 2005, and served as its President from 2000 to 2003. He is currently a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said: "We will submit to the ICJ our comprehensive and compelling rebuttal to Malaysia's application by June 14, which is the time limit fixed by the ICJ. We are confident of our legal team and our case."

Dr Balakrishnan added that the legal team strongly believes that the three documents relied on by Malaysia in its bid to overturn the judgement do not satisfy the criteria under which it applied for a revision.

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