Amendment to the Tribunal's Rules

At its 130th session, in accordance with Article X of its Statute, the Tribunal decided to amend its Rules by inserting a new Article 16 concerning the withdrawal of complaints, which reads as follows:

“The President may, by means of an Order, record the withdrawal of a complaint after giving the opposing party an opportunity to comment on the request to withdraw.”

This new provision reflects the Tribunal’s long-standing practice of accepting withdrawals, which is confirmed by the case law, and, additionally, aims to expedite the process by allowing the President to record the withdrawal of a complaint by means of an Order, which will be sent to the parties immediately. This means that the parties will not have to await the next session of the Tribunal in order to obtain confirmation that the complaint has been withdrawn.

The former Articles 16 and 17 of the Rules have been renumbered accordingly.

The amended version of the Rules can be found here.