1. The delimitation of the continental shelf and of the economic exclusive zones in the Northern sector of the Western Black Sea basin was the object of an extended process of negotiations, which took place between 1967 and 1987, between Romania and the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics – no agreement having been reached between the two Parties. After the dissolution of the USSR, this issue began to be discussed with the Ukrainian side.

On 2 June 1997, the Treaty on the Relations of Good Neighbourliness and Co-Operation between Romania and Ukraine was signed at Constanţa (the Basic Political Treaty). On the same occasion, the Agreement Additional to the Basic Political Treaty, concluded by exchange of letters between the ministers of foreign affairs of the two countries, was also signed.

The later document contains provisions regarding the obligations of the Parties to begin negotiations for the conclusion of a Treaty on the State Border Regime and of an Agreement for the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zones of Romania and Ukraine in the Black Sea. At the same time, the Additional Agreement contains a series of principles according to which the two Parties agreed to proceed to delimitation. The above mentioned document also included a special clause, establishing the possibility for either of the Parties to unilaterally seize the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in order to find a solution to the issue of the delimitation of the maritime zones, on condition that two simultaneous conditions were met:

a) the negotiations regarding the delimitation of the maritime zones to have lasted for more than two years;

b) the Treaty on the Border Regime to have entered into force or, if that was not the case, that this delay was due to the fault of the other Party.

2. Thus, in 1998, the Treaty on the Common State Border Regime and the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Maritime Zones started to be negotiated together.

The Treaty between Romania and Ukraine on the Romanian-Ukrainian State Border Regime, Collaboration and Mutual Assistance on Border Matters was signed at Cernăuţi, on 17 June 2003, by the presidents of Romania and Ukraine and entered into force following the exchange of the instruments of ratification, done at Mamaia, on 27 May 2004.

Nevertheless, the bilateral negotiations with respect to the Agreement on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zones of Romania and Ukraine in the Black Sea, which took place between 1998 and 2004, did not lead to any concrete results, as the text of this document could not have been agreed upon.

Under these circumstances, taking into account the fact that both conditions regarding the seizing of the ICJ had been fulfilled, and having in mind the lack of any progress of the bilateral negotiations (24 rounds of negotiations, plus 10 other rounds at expert level), on 16 September 2004, Romania submitted to the International Court of Justice the Application Instituting Proceedings, with a view to find a solution to the issue of the delimitation of the continental shelf and of the exclusive economic zones of Romania and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

Mr. Bogdan Aurescu was assigned as Agent of the Romanian Party, while Mr. Cosmin Dinescu, director general for legal affairs, and Mr. Iulian Buga, Ambassador of Romania at the Hague, were appointed as Co-Agents.

3. The recourse to the jurisdiction of the ICJ has the advantage that the solution to be adopted will certainly be an equitable one, fully taking into account the rules of international law.

The International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, has a great expertise as far as the delimitation of the maritime spaces is concerned.

The high competence of the members of the Court, their integrity beyond any shadow of doubt, as well as the great expertise of the ICJ as far as this kind of disputes are concerned, represent firm guarantees in this respect. At the same time, the seizing of ICJ creates the perspective of solving the delimitation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zones of Romania and Ukraine in the Black Sea within a reasonable time-limit (the average time-limit of cases at the ICJ is 4 years).

4. By an Order dated 19 November 2004, the International Court of Justice fixed 19 August 2005 as the time-limit for the filing of Romania’s Memorial and 19 May 2006 as the time-limit for the filing of Ukraine’s Counter-Memorial.

On 15 August 2005 – before the running out of the time-limit fixed by the Order of the Court – the Agent of the Romanian Party in the proceedings in front of the International Court of Justice in the case regarding The Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukriane), Mr. Bogdan Aurescu, filed, at the Registry of the Court, Romania’s Memorial, comprising the Romanian Party’s position.

The Memorial encloses a series of annexes, comprising documents and maps, which represent evidences supporting the argumentation of the Romanian Party. According to article 53, para. (2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court, the contents of the Memorial, of the Counter-Memorial and of other documents filed by the Parties are confidential, until the opening of the oral proceedings, when the Court may decide, after ascertaining the views of the Parties, to make them accessible to the public.

5. On the occasion of a visit to Kiev of Mr. Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, the minister of foreign affairs of Romania, on 22 March 2005, it was decided for the bilateral Romanian-Ukrainian talks on the delimitation of the maritime spaces to be resumed, in parallel with the proceedings in front of the International Court of Justice, without affecting these proceedings in any way. The same conclusion was also reached on the occasion of the official meetings that took place between the President of Romania, Mr. Traian Basescu, and the President of Ukraine, Mr. Victor Iuscenko (Bucharest, 21 April 2005 and Kiev, 2 February 2006).

According to the elements agreed upon during these meetings, three new reunions at expert level took place at Kiev (14-15 April 2005 and 31 October – 1 November 2005) and Constanta (2-3 June 2005). The Romanian and Ukrainian delegations participating to these rounds of negotiations reaffirmed their trust in the capacity of the International Court of Justice to solve the issue of the delimitation of the maritime spaces of the two States in the Black Sea in an equitable and impartial way, reiterating the position according to which the bilateral talks should not in any way prejudice the proceedings in front of the ICJ.

Link: Case on Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine)