Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory fr

Date of Advisory Opinion:  9 July 2004

On 10 December 2003, the Secretary-General of the United Nations officially communicated to the ICJ the General Assembly’s decision to submit the following question to the Court:

^{“What are the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, as described in the report of the Secretary-General, considering the rules and principles of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions?”}

The Court replied, in its Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004, that the construction of the wall being built by Israel, as well as its associated regime, were contrary to international law and that Israel was under an obligation to terminate its breaches of international law. The Court found that Israel was under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall and that all States are under an obligation not to recognise the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction.