Statement of Jurisdiction

In conformity with Article 40, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the

International Court of Justice, the Federal States of Aliya and the Republic
of Rincossi, have agreed to submit their differences about Questions
relating to Cultural Property and Protection of Elephants to the International
Court of Justice

On June 19, 2015, the parties signed and submitted a Special

Agreement to the Registrar of the Court. Special Agreement Between The
Federal States Of Aliya And The Republic Of Rincossi For Submission To
The ICJ Of Differences Between Them Concerning Questions Relating
Cultural Property And The Protection Of Elephants, signed at Libreille,
Gabon on June 19, 2015.
 Questioned Presented

1.) Whether or not republic of Rincossi violated the international law by

failing to prosecute Ambassador Cusi and the 20 members of the
Barnum Uritovs

2.) Whether or not ,Rincossi is in violation of international law by

destroying the confiscated Ivory rather than returning the same to the
Republic of Aliya
 Statement of Facts

Aliya and Rincossi are coastal nations on two different continents.

Aliya is a developing country and the Thornon elephant plays a
significant role in its culture. Various legislations have been
enacted in Aliya to prevent poaching and illegal trade, in addition
to the setting up of a National Park. Rincossi is a rapidly
developing state and its law permits domestic trade of legal ivory,
but has a legislation to protect wildlife and to check trade in
illegally obtained ivory.

Aliya is a developing country with a population of approximately

10,000,000 and 40% of the population lives on less than $1.25 per
day .Rincossi is a rapidly developing country with a population of
approximately 600,000,000 people. The GDP of Rincossi is
around $4.7 trillion.

In 1990, the Aliyan government enacted legislation declaring, that

Thornon elephants and their parts and derivatives are of historical
and scientific importance to them. In 1977, Aliyan Wildlife
Protection Act (Wildlife Act) came into force in Aliya, which
criminalizes CITES violations with the punishment of imprisonment
for maximum ten years and a fine. The Wildlife Act also provides
for the confiscation of illegally traded wildlife specimens and
provides that such confiscated specimens shall be returned to the
country of origin, if practicable .Under the Aliyan Ivory Trade
Prohibition Act, enacted in 1980, all ivory trade-both international
and domestic-is illegal in Aliya. The Aliyan Government prosecutes
many cases involving ivory trafficking but due to Aliyas limited
financial resources, some cases have not been prosecuted.

In 1977, the Rincossi government enacted Rincossi Flora and

Fauna Trafficking Act (Trafficking Act), under which the
international trade in violation of CITES is prohibited along with the
 confiscation of illegally traded specimens. However, Rincossi law
does not prohibit domestic trade of illegal ivory, which includes
ivory that was obtained before 1977 and ivory that was legally
obtained. In 2010, the Rincossi government amended its
Trafficking Act by increasing the maximum penalty for a CITES
violation to eight years in prison along with the policy to destroy
confiscated ivory if practicable .Since the 2010 amendments, the
Rincossi government has prosecuted only two cases involving
illegal ivory trade under the Trafficking Act .The large number of
Rincossi workers brought by the companies owned by the
Rincossi government in Aliya helped to stimulate the market for
illegal ivory in both Aliya and Rincossi, and Rincossi has become
the primary destination for illegal ivory from Aliya.

In July 2014, Ambassador Pam C. Cusi from Rincossi travelled

to Thorno on a diplomatic mission and was involved in transporting
25 kg of illegal Thornon ivory from Aliya to Rincossi. Rincossi
confiscated the same and informed Aliya, pursuant to which the two
countries agreed to conduct a joint investigation. It was later
discovered that Cusis act was part of a 20-member operation of
BU, who had been trafficking illegal ivory from Thornon elephants
from Aliya to Rincossi for three years. BU is a private group
engaged in international transport. About 1500 kg of ivory was
confiscated from their transport containers, but no members were
arrested.

Between 15 January 2015 and 17 April 2015, several diplomatic

notes were exchanged between the governments of the two states.
In them, Aliya requested for prosecution of Ambassador Cusi and
the 20 BU members, as well as return of the Thornon ivory
confiscated from all of them, as under various treaties and CIL.
Rincossi denied both.

The negotiations between the two states having failed, both decided
to submit the matter before the International Court of Justice under
a Special Agreement. In this regard, Rincossi agreed to suspend
destruction of ivory till the matter was determined by the ICJ.