§ 53. Mr. Dribergasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to strengthen respect for international law, and for the authority of the International Court at The Hague, in view of the dismay caused by the Court's decision, after long-drawn-out and expensive litigation, that it was not competent to rule on South Africa's administration of its C mandate in South-West Africa.
§ Mrs. WhiteMy hon. Friend's Question suggests some misunderstanding about the proceedings before the Court and the nature of the decision. The Court did not decide that it was not competent to rule on South Africa's administration of the mandate: it decided, in effect, that Ethiopia and Liberia had established no legal right or interest in the subject matter of the claims advanced by them in the proceedings which they had instituted.
It is still open to the General Assembly of the United Nations to request the Court's opinion on the matter.