Turkmen president’s statement to sue Azerbaijan is not serious: lawyer

Day.Az: As you already know, Turkmenistan recently stated that it will sue Azerbaijan at the International Court of Arbitration to protect its rights regarding disputable oil and gas fields on the Caspian Sea. What does this term mean from judicial point of view? In what arbitrage court can this case be considered?

Erkin Gadirli: International Court of Arbitration is a general term. There are several of them and all depends on what is meant. For example, territorial dispute and jurisdiction over the continental shelf are handled only international court of the United Nations, which is located in the Hague.

Here the matter is that neither Turkmenistan nor Azerbaijan accept jurisdiction of that court, so the case can not be processed at this time. Not only Turkmenistan, but also Azerbaijan at least for this particular case are required to accept jurisdiction of the UN international court. To this end, both countries must make a relevant statement under article 36 of the Charter of the International Court of the United Nations. Jurisdictional disputes are handled only by this court.

Q: What measures should Azerbaijan take with regard to the recent statement by Turkmenistan?

A: As to the media reports about the statement by the Turkmen president, I did not understand them. I do not understand also the concerns by Azerbaijani commentators. Even if Turkmenistan recognizes jurisdiction of the UN international court, this would still not enough to deal with the case until Azerbaijan does not recognize it.

Statement by the Turkmen president, released by media, is not complete for judicial comments. This is not serious statement at all. Either the information is presented inaccurately or the statement was made deliberately, for the sake of witticism sending a message to Azerbaijan that they are unhappy, but legally this statement is very vague.

Azerbaijan has never before faced similar cases because it does not recognize jurisdiction of an international court.

Q: What kind of arbitrage courts exit and what issues do they decide?

A: There are a few of arbitration courts in Stockholm, London, but they resolve contractual disputes, ie disputes over contractual obligations. They do not resolve jurisdictional disputes.

There is an international convention of maritime law. It also has a number of arbitral institutions, but this convention applies only to countries that are parties to it and they regulate only the issues between the countries related to the open seas. The Caspian Sea, in this case, is not an open sea. The status of the Caspian Sea has not been defined so far and therefore the convention on this issue is not applicable to Azerbaijan.

/Day.Az/