On 15 December 1994, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 49/75K by which it decided:

to request the International Court of Justice urgently to render its advisory opinion on the following question: ‘Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstance permitted under international law?’

From the beginning of 1995, the following information was communicated to the press by the Registry of the International Court of Justice.

On 8 July 1991 Qatar filed an application instituting proceedings against Bahrain in respect of certain existing disputes between them relating to sovereignty over the Hawar islands, sovereign rights over the shoals of Dibai and Qiťat Jaradah, and the delimitation of the maritime areas of the two states. The case has been entitled by the Court the Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions Between Qatar and Bahrain case. The application is in four sections: I. Geographical and Historical Background;II. The Subject of the Disputes; III. Efforts to settle the Disputes; and IV.Jurisdiction.

This contribution is intended to update the author's recent contribution to this Journal concerning current developments at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). Developments since the publication of that article primarily concern the PCA Financial Assistance Fund and the work of the Steering Committee. In addition, the International Bureau is currently serving as Registrar in three arbitrations initiated pursuant to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and has assumed a pivotal role in fostering contact and an exchange of views among international lawyers and jurists in The Netherlands.

On 28 April 1976, after a preparation period of three years, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted by consensus the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. On 15 December 1976, the General Assembly of the United Nations recommended the use of these Rules, and requested the UN Secretary-General to arrange for their widest possible distribution.

In August 1993, this Journal devoted an entire special issue to the future of international arbitration in general, andthe Permanent Court of Arbitration in particular. Its editors viewed this special issue inter alia as a contribution to the UN Decade of International Law. It is not entirely coincidental that 1999, the final year of the Decade, will also mark the centennial of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). This commemorative link is expressly acknowledged in the UN Resolution initiating the Decade.

In a recent interview with a Dutch newspaper, Lord Owen, until the beginning of June Co-Chairman of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia, said:

[W]e were instructed by the conference to make recommendations on the establishment of a war crimes tribunal. We decided that this tribunal should be completely disconnected from the negotiating process. It should have a life of its own in order to enable us the negotiators for the UN and the EU to say that we had nothing to do with it in case the matter would be brought up to us.

The first indictments against high-ranking political and military leaders were issued by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 25 July 1995. Those indicted include Radovan Karadžić, the President of the Bosnian Serb Administration of Pale;Ratko Mladić, the commander of the army of the Bosnian Serb Administration;and Milan Martic, the President of the former Croatian Serb Administration of Knin. On the same day, the defence motion challenging the jurisdiction of the ICTY to try the accused currently before it, Dusko Tadicwas argued before the Trial Chamber. On 10 August 1995, this motion was dismissed.These recent developments, amongst others, are the culmination of the Prosecution's work in confronting the immense challenges of this unique international jurisdiction. Although the task is far from complete, the achievements to date provide a stable foundation upon which to progress with confidence. This article will comment on the significance of these new developments.

This arbitration arose under the Air Services Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (hereinafter: HMG) and the Government of the United States (hereinafter: USG) concluded at Bermuda, 23 July 1977, as subsequently amended. This Agreement, which is generally referred to as Bermuda 2, provides, inter alia, that airport charges should not discriminate between a state's domestic carriers and those of the other party, and that theparties should use their best efforts to ensure that charges should be based on certain principles.

Antonio Cassese, who is now President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), once observed from an academic point of view:

[i]nternational legal control of warfare has kept pace with the developments in organized armed violence only to a limited extend. Major military Powers have not accepted sweeping restraints, with the consequence that this body of law is beset with deficiencies, loopholes, and ambiguity.