Australia wins legal battle over Timor Gap

Australia wins legal battle over Timor Gap

THE HAGUE (Reuter): The International Court of Justice
yesterday ruled in Australia's favor in a dispute with Portugal
over offshore oil exploration in the Timor Gap.

The UN court rejected Portugal's challenge to a 1989 oil
treaty between Australia and Indonesia which Lisbon said had
violated East Timor's right of self-determination.

The court said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the merits of
Portugal's case.

"In order to decide the claims of Portugal, (the court) would
have to rule as a prerequisite on the lawfulness of Indonesia's
conduct in the absence of that state's consent," said court
president Mohammed Bedjaoui of Algeria. "The court can only
exercise jurisdiction over a state with its consent."

Indonesia is not a party to the case.

The Timor Gap Treaty between Australia and Indonesia, signed
six years ago, was for oil exploration in the 23,550 square mile
(61,000 sq km) stretch of sea between Timor and Australia.

East Timor became part of Indonesia a year after Portugal
pulled out of its former colony in 1975. But the United Nations
does not recognize the integration and still regards Portugal as
the administrative power.

Australia told the court earlier this year it recognized East
Timor's right of self-determination, but also acknowledged that
Indonesia exercised sovereignty over the territory.

Canberra said the treaty was valid under international law and
that Portugal had only challenged it to gain a platform for its
dispute with Indonesia, which refuses to accept the court's
jurisdiction and was not directly involved in the case.

Michael Tate, Australian ambassador to the Netherlands, said
the judgment was a complete vindication for Australia.

"The...court has completely vindicated Australia's legal team
in its approach to arguing this case. Our foreign minister will
comment (later) on the political implications but, of course,
we're very satisfied as a legal team that by an overwhelming
majority the world court has upheld our arguments."

The International Court, informally known as the World Court,
is the UN's main legal body and resolves disputes between member
states in accordance with international law.