Press Release on Judgment by ICJ

PDF
Print
E-mail

Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge  (Malaysia/Singapore)  

The Court finds that Singapore has sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh;  that  Malaysia has sovereignty over Middle Rocks;  and that sovereignty over South Ledge  belongs to the State in the territorial waters of which it is located  

THE HAGUE, 23 May 2008.  The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today rendered its Judgment in the case concerning Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore).

  

In its Judgment, which is final, binding and without appeal, the Court

 

 Finds by twelve votes to four that sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh belongs to the Republic of Singapore;
 Finds by fifteen votes to one that sovereignty over Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia;
 Finds by fifteen votes to one that sovereignty over South Ledge belongs to the State in the territorial waters of which it is located.

( Read more ... )
 

Background

PDF
Print
E-mail

 

The issue of Pulau Batu Puteh ( PBP ) pits Malaysia’s original title to the island against Singapore’s much later claim, which dates from 1980. The island lies 7.7 nautical miles (nm) from the Malaysian mainland but 25.5 nm over the sea from Singapore.
 

Chronology

PDF
Print
E-mail
Case Concerning Sovereignty Over Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks And South Ledge

 
 

History of the Dispute

PDF
Print
E-mail
On 14 February 1980, Singapore first laid claim to Pulau Batu Puteh (PBP) through a Diplomatic Note protesting Malaysia’s showing PBP as a Malaysian island in Malaysia’s 1979 map.