Iron Rhine Arbitration (Belgium/Netherlands)

The Iron Rhine is a railway linking the port of Antwerp in Belgium to the Rhine basin in Germany via the Netherlands. Its origins lie in the 1839 Treaty of Separation (“1839 Treaty”) which conferred certain transit rights on Belgium. Following World War II, parts of the Iron Rhine gradually fell into disuse and during the 1990s the Netherlands took legal steps to designate nature reserves that lay across its route. 

 

The Parties disagreed as to the allocation of costs and risks for works necessary for the long-term use of the railway. In particular, the Parties disagreed on the interpretation of Belgium's right of transit under the 1839 Treaty in light of subsequent developments, including environmental protection measures and the requirements of European law.

 

The Tribunal decided the case on the basis of written submissions as neither Party requested an oral hearing. The Tribunal ruled that Belgium had an obligation to fund the environmental element of the overall costs of the reactivation. In relation to those parts of the line where Iron Rhine trains and Netherlands trains would pass, the Netherlands was obliged to contribute to the total costs of reactivation, to the extent that those measures represented particular quantifiable benefits to the Netherlands. The Tribunal applied these principles to each segment of the proposed line.

 

On July 25, 2005 Belgium submitted three requests for interpretation of the Award. On September 20, 2005, after receiving comments from the Netherlands on each of those requests, the Tribunal issued its Interpretation of the Award of the Arbitral Tribunal.


Case information

Name(s) of Claimant(s)
Name(s) of Respondent(s) -
Names of Parties

KINGDOM OF BELGIUM

Agent

Mr. Jan Devadder

 

Counsel and Advocates

Mr. Nicolas Angelet, Avocat, Chargé de cours at the Université Libre de Bruxelles;

Mrs. Corinne Clavé, Researcher, Centre de droit International, Université Libre de Bruxelles

 

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Agent

Professor Johan G. Lammers

Case number 2003-02
Administering institution Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
Case status Concluded
Type of case Inter-state arbitration
Subject matter or economic sector Transportation and storage
Procedural rules Permanent Court of Arbitration Optional Rules for Arbitrating Disputes between Two States
Treaty or contract under which proceedings were commenced

Other

Language of Proceeding English
Seat of Arbitration (by Country) Netherlands
Arbitrator(s), Conciliator(s), Other Neutral(s)

Judge Rosalyn Higgins (President)

Professor Guy Schrans

Judge Bruno Simma

Professor Alfred Soons

Judge Peter Tomka

Representatives of the Claimant(s) -
Representatives of the Respondent(s) -
Representatives of the Parties
Number of Arbitrators in case 5
Date of commencement of proceeding 23 July 2003
Date of issue of final award 24 May 2005
Length of Proceedings 1-2 years
Additional notes -

Documents

Notice of Arbitration
Arbitration Agreement
Written submission
Belgium Memorial ToC
Belgium Memorial
Netherlands Counter-Memorial
Belgium Reply ToC
Belgium Reply
Netherlands Rejoinder
Award or other decision
BE-NL Award
BE-NL Award corrected
Correction to the Award
Interpretation of the Award
BE-NL Award in French
Press Release
Press Release
Press Release
Other
Rules of Procedure