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THE HAGUE / KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE VERDICT
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STORY: THE HAGUE / KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE VERDICT
TRT: 1.41
SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 JULY 2010, THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
1. Wide shot, Courtroom
2. Various shots, judges
3. Various shots, Serbian delegation
4. Med shot, audience
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Judge Hisashi Owada, President, International Court of Justice:
“The Court has concluded about the adoption of the declaration of Independence of the 17 of February 2008 did not violate the general International Law , Security Council resolution 1244, or the Constitutional Framework, consequently the adoption of that declaration did not violate the applicable rule of international law.”
6. Med shot, Serbian Minister of foreighn Affairs Vuk Jeremic
7. Wide shot, Kosovar delegation
8. Med shot, Kosovar delegation
9. Various shots, judges leave courtroom behind
Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 did not violate international law, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said today (22 July) as the United Nations court released its advisory opinion on the issue.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, was asked by the General Assembly to give its opinion, which is non-binding, on the legality of the independence declaration by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) of Kosovo.
By 10 votes to four, judges at the ICJ concluded that the declaration does not breach either general international law, a Security Council resolution from 1999 following the end of fighting in Kosovo, or the constitutional framework that was adopted by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on behalf of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
UNMIK was established after Western forces drove out Yugoslav forces amid inter-ethnic fighting in 1999. Ethnic Albanians outnumber ethnic Serbs and other minorities by about nine to one in Kosovo.
