Malaysia seeks revision of ICJ ruling on Pulau Batu Puteh

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has ap­­plied to revise the international court’s ruling that gave Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore following the discovery of “some important facts,” the Attorney-General an­­nounced yesterday.

The application was filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on Thursday.

“The application was made upon the discovery of some facts of such a nature as to be a decisive factor when the judgement was given unknown to the court and also to Malaysia as the party claiming revision,” said Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali in a statement.

He also said that the Attorney-General Chambers was confident that in filing for the revision, Article 61 of the ICJ Statute had been met, in that the application was brought within six months of the discovery of the new fact and within 10 years of the date of the judgment.

It was also a continuation of the process taken by both Malaysia and Singapore in May 2003, when both countries agreed to submit the dispute of sovereignty over Pedra Bran­­­ca/ Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge to the ICJ (“Special Agreement”), he said.

The dispute over the three maritime features began in 1980 when Malay­sia published an official map showing the three features as being within its territorial wa­­ters.

The island, described by the ICJ in its 2008 ruling as “a small but strategically located island in the Straits of Singapore” was given to the is­­land republic then. Middle Rocks was given to Malaysia and South Ledge was not awarded to either country.

In an immediate reaction, Si­­nga­pore Foreign Affairs ministry said it had formed a legal team to respond to the application.

The team includes Attorney-Ge­­ne­ral Lucien Wong, Professor S. Ja­­ya­­­kumar, Professor Tommy Koh and former Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.