International Court of Justice Orders France to Guarantee Protection of Equatorial Guinea Diplomatic Housing in Paris (December 7, 2016) [1]
On December 7, 2016, the International Court of Justice delivered its order [3] in Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France) in response to Equatorial Guinea’s request for provisional measures, indicating that France must guarantee the protection of a building presented as housing the diplomatic mission of Equatorial Guinea in Paris in order to ensure its inviolability, while also rejecting France’s request to remove the case from the General List. According to the press release [4], in June 2016, “Equatorial Guinea instituted proceedings against France with regard to a dispute concerning the immunity from criminal jurisdiction of the Vice-President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, and the legal status of the building which ‘houses the Embassy of Equatorial Guinea.’” In September 2016, Equatorial Guinea submitted a request for the indication of provisional measures regarding the premises, in particular, requesting that the Court “assure its inviolability, and that those premises, together with their furnishings and other property thereon, or previously thereon, are protected from any intrusion or damage, any search, requisition, attachment or any other measure of constraint.” The Court found that Equatorial Guinea had a plausible right to ensure the premises at issue are accorded protections required under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and that there exists “a real risk of irreparable prejudice to the right to inviolability of the premises.” The Court ordered France to treat the housing in accordance with the Vienna Convention.