ICJ to Deliver Order on Equatorial Guinea v. France on Sept 12

International Court of Justice to deliver its Order on Friday 12 September 2025 at 03:00 PM relating to the Return of Property Confiscated in Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France).

Sept 2025 : On Friday 12 September 2025, the International Court of Justice will deliver its Order on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Equatorial Guinea in the case concerning the Request relating to the Return of Property Confiscated in Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France).

A public sitting will take place at 3 p.m. at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Iwasawa Yuji, President of the Court, will read out the Court’s Order.

It is recalled that Equatorial Guinea filed its Request for the indication of provisional measures on 3^rd. July 2025, pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and Article 73 of the Rules of Court.

In its Request, Equatorial Guinea states that “on 27 May 2025, the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC) submitted an application to the President of the Paris Tribunal judiciaire, in which it requested the appointment of a court enforcement officer who could enter the building at 42 avenue Foch, whose return is sought by Equatorial Guinea from France on the basis of the United Nations Convention” against Corruption of 31 October 2003.

Equatorial Guinea adds that “on 18^th. June 2025, a commissioner of the French judicial police, officers of the judicial police, officers of the national police, AGRASC officials, as well as officers from a private security company and locksmiths presented themselves at the building, accompanied by police dogs. They entered the building in the absence of its occupants and without informing them in advance. They then proceeded to change the locks of several of the building’s doors”.

According to Equatorial Guinea, despite the request that it made to France to provide, “by no

later than 27^th. June 2025, assurances of its commitment not to cause irreparable prejudice or to

further aggravate the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve”, France has failed to offer any

assurances that it “will not proceed with the sale of the building at any moment, before the Court is

able to decide the dispute on the merits”.

Equatorial Guinea requests the Court to indicate the following provisional measures:

• France must take all necessary measures to ensure that the building is not offered for sale;

• France must ensure that Equatorial Guinea has immediate, full and unimpeded access to the entire building;

• France must refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.

Pursuant to Article 74 of the Rules of Court, “a request for the indication of provisional measures shall have priority over all other cases”. Public hearings on the request were held on 15 July, 2025.

The risk of irreparable prejudice is therefore imminent and real: Equatorial Guinea risks suffering a violation of its right to have the building permanently returned to it as a result of a sale that could happen at any moment, in the absence of guarantees from the French Party.

Equatorial Guinea reserves the right to seek new provisional measures in order to avoid irreparable prejudice being caused to the rights in question in this case, or to prevent the dispute between the Parties from being further aggravated, should such measures become necessary during the present proceedings. It also reserves the right to revise, supplement or amend the grounds invoked.

Team Maverick