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.