Addis Ababa, 25 January 2018 - After the meeting held in Mauritius a letter dated 10 January 2018, by which the Legal Counsel of the African Union requested that this organization “(i) be permitted to furnish information, in writing and orally, on the question submitted to the Court for its advisory opinion and (ii) be granted an extension of one month for the filing of its written statement”.

Following the request of the AU Commission, by an Order dated 17 January 2018, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has decided that “the African Union, which is likely to be able to furnish information on the question submitted to the Court for an advisory opinion, may do so within the time-limits fixed by the Court” in the proceedings on the request for advisory opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.

In this regard, the Court has extended the time-limit for filing written statements from 30 January 2018 to 1 March 2018, and the time-limit within which States and organizations having presented written statements may submit written comments on the other written statements to 15 May 2018, in accordance to the Statute of the Court.

Accordingly, the African Union (AU) Commission would like to reiterate its call for Member States to make submissions before 1 March 2017 to support the full decolonization of the Continent.

For further information, please contact:
Tefesehet Sime and Tsion Demissie, Office of the Legal Counsel, AUC

Media Contact:
Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou| Head of Information Division | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 (0) 911361185 | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org |

For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia