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The Hague: The International Court of Justice will hand down its verdict on Friday over a sovereignty dispute between Malaysia and Singapore for an island half the size of a football field on the eastern approach to the Straits of Singapore.
The dispute over the island, known as Pedra Branca by Singapore and Pulau Batu Puteh by Malaysia, arose in 1980 after Malaysia published a map and included the islet within its maritime boundaries.
Both parties agreed to seek the intervention of the UN court, and the International Court of Justice heard arguments from both parties last November on sovereignty over Pedra Branca and a pair of nearby rock clusters known as Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
Malaysia claims the land was always its property, although Singapore has been operating the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the island for more than 130 years.
Sixteen judges who are elected by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council heard the Pedra Branca case.
The judges hailing from countries like the US, China and Slovakia, included two ad-hoc judges, Mr P S Rao of India who was appointed by Singapore, and Mr Christopher John Robert Dugard from South Africa who was chosen by Malaysia.
Presiding over the case was ICJ Vice-President, Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, of Jordan.
Normally, ICJ President Rosalyn Higgins would be part of the panel. However, she excused herself from the case because Singapore had sought her opinion before she joined the Court.
Pedra Branca is the first case that Singapore has referred to the ICJ, while for Malaysia, this is its second. Malaysia had brought its territorial dispute with Indonesia over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan before the same court in 2002 and won the case.
The aim of the ICJ, also known as the World Court, is to settle legal disputes between countries and to give advice. Without the court in the Hague, ICJ President Rosalyn Higgins believes it would be very hard to imagine how such issues could have been resolved.
Speaking to Channel NewsAsia, Judge Higgins said it was the ICJ that first made clear that self determination is not just a political aspiration, but a legal right. "How important that has been in the world," she added.
"I'm sure the world would be a less good place, had the court not been able to make its input."
Decisions by the ICJ are binding and cannot be appealed. However, if one party fails to comply with the Court's judgement, the other can bring the matter to the Security Council.
But as Judge Higgins pointed out, "It's now becoming appreciated that you can maintain very good relations with neighbours, which I know is very important for the Southeast Asian countries.
"Maintain very good relations with neighbours, while having a third party, the International Court, resolve a problem between you that you haven't been able to settle yourselves."
That was the step taken by Singapore and Malaysia, and both have said they will accept the ICJ outcome without letting it affect bilateral ties.
The Court has delivered over 94 judgments on issues like territorial sovereignty and maritime boundaries since 1946. - CNA/AFP/sf
Channel NewsAsia will broadcast the verdict "live" from 4pm (Singapore time).
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