Published: 10 November 2025 Author: Stefan Talmon
On 1 March 2024, Nicaragua instituted proceedings against Germany before the ICJ for alleged violations by Germany of its obligations deriving from the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, ‘intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law’ and other norms of general international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip. Nicaragua claimed, inter alia, that by its conduct Germany had not only failed to fulfil its obligation to prevent the genocide allegedly committed by Israel against the Palestinian people but had itself contributed to the commission of that genocide and to the illegal regime of apartheid imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people. At the same time, Nicaragua requested that the ICJ indicate provisional measures in order to preserve Nicaragua’s rights that were allegedly violated by Germany’s conduct. In its Order of 30 April 2024, the Court decided by fifteen votes to one that the circumstances, as they presented themselves to the Court, were not such as to require the indication of provisional measures.
By an Order of 19 July 2024, the ICJ fixed the time-limits for Nicaragua to file its Memorial and Germany its Counter-Memorial. Nicaragua duly filed its Memorial on 21 July 2025. Germany was given until 21 July 2026 to file its Counter-Memorial. However, on 21 October 2025 Germany filed preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and to the admissibility of the claims contained in Nicaragua’s Memorial. In accordance with the Court’s Rules, this triggered the automatic suspension of the proceedings on the merits and the opening of interlocutory proceedings on jurisdiction and admissibility. The Court accordingly transmitted Germany’s objections to Nicaragua and set 23 February 2026 as the deadline by which the Republic of Nicaragua must present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by Germany.
According to the Court’s Rules, preliminary objections must be made ‘as soon as possible, and not later than three months after the delivery of the Memorial’. As Nicaragua filed its Memorial on 21 July 2025, Germany had until 21 October 2025 at the latest to file its preliminary objections. Thus, Germany made its objections literally at the last minute.
During the oral hearing on Nicaragua’s request for provisional measures in April 2024 Germany had already argued that the Court did not even have prima facie jurisdiction to hear the case and that Nicaragua’s case faced a ‘serious admissibility problem.’ One may thus wonder why it took Germany more than one and half years to formally raise preliminary objections, when such objections should be raised ‘as soon as possible’. The timing for the filing of preliminary objections is a strategic decision. By making use of the three-month time-limit provided by the Rules of Court, a respondent State can delay the proceedings on the merits if the preliminary objections are ultimately unsuccessful. This is not unusual. In fact, almost all States raising preliminary objections make good use of the three-month time-limit, although very few leave it to the very last minute as Germany did in the present case.
Upon Nicaragua’s submission of a written statement of its observations and submissions on Germany’s preliminary objections, the Court will transmit the statement to Germany and schedule an oral hearing on the preliminary objections. Depending on the Court’s schedule, the oral hearing may not be held before well into the second half of 2026. Depending on the Court’s workload, a decision on Germany’s preliminary objections will take between four to six months; that is, the decision will be made some time in the first half of 2027. The Court will give its decision in the form of a judgment. If the judgment does not fully dispose of the case, the Court will fix time-limits for further proceedings. At the beginning of the proceedings, Germany requested a period of nine months for the preparation of its Counter-Memorial. It may well do so again. This would mean a new deadline at the end of 2027 or in 2028 for Germany to file its Counter-Memorial. In a legally complex case like the one between Nicaragua and Germany, it is highly likely that the Court will order a second round of written pleadings with time-limits for the Reply and Rejoinder of at least half a year each, which means that the written proceedings most likely will not close before the end of 2028. This means, in turn, that oral hearings on the merits of the case will not be held before some time in the second half of 2029. A final judgment on the merits thus will probably not be rendered before some time in 2030.
Category: News
DOI: 10.17176/20251112-142245-0
