THE HAGUE, Netherlands : Singapore and Malaysia have presented their arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in support of their claims over the sovereignty of a disputed island and its two outcrops.
Pedra BrancaBoth countries were given four days each to make their presentations to a panel of 16 judges at The Hague.
Singapore refers to the disputed island as Pedra Branca, while Malaysia calls it Pulau Batu Puteh. The two outcrops are the Middle Rocks and South Ledge.
The disputed island lies at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Singapore.
About 900 ships pass through the Strait daily, making it one of the busiest in the world.
The dispute arose when Malaysia published a new map in 1979 of its territories, which included the island.
Singapore objected to it, claiming sovereignty over Pedra Branca.
The disagreement was eventually submitted to the ICJ about four years ago.
The hearing at the ICJ now comes after three rounds of written pleadings.
On Monday, both countries will return to the court to rebut each other's statements.
Singapore will start off with two days of rebuttal from Monday, while Malaysia will get the next two days from Wednesday.
Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh told the Singapore media that "the team is working very hard over the weekend as you can imagine. We are in good shape. We have all done our first draft of our second round statements. The team is energised, ready to go."
On Malaysia's presentation so far, Professor Koh said the "Malaysian team was extremely eloquent and they succeeded because of their eloquence in putting forward a much better case than the intrinsic case of Malaysia."
After both parties wrap up their rebuttals, the judges, from countries like the US and China, will deliberate the case.
The judgment is expected in about six to nine months, between June and September next year.
This is Singapore's first case before the ICJ, while it is Malaysia's second - having first appeared over a territorial dispute with Indonesia concerning the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan.
Malaysia won that case in 2002.
Here's a summary of Singapore's and Malaysia's key arguments as they approach their final week at the ICJ.
Singapore says it owns Pedra Branca and its outcrops since 1847, when the British built the Horsburgh Lighthouse on it, and Singapore is still managing the lighthouse today.
According to Singapore, Pedra Branca was terra nullius, or a no man's land, before the British took possession of the island.
The British did not seek permission and did not have to seek permission to build the Horsburgh Lighthouse.
Singapore says when she succeeded the island from the British, it exercised sovereignty by conducting numerous activities and building many structures on Pedra Branca.
Some activities included naval patrols of the island, granting permission to Malaysians and third parties to visit Pedra Branca, having reclamation plans, building military communications equipment and rader reflectors there.
Singapore said it would not have carried out all these works if the island had belonged to someone else.
These State activities were also done openly and consistently, demonstrating the confirmation of its title of the island.
Singapore substantiated her case with several key points, including a 1953 letter from the Johor government then stating it did not own Pedra Branca.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister S. Jayakumar had said before the court that "What can be clearer than these ten words: "The Johore Government does not claim ownership of Pedra Branca."
Singapore also has Malaysian maps to prove it attributed Pedra Branca to Singapore - one as late as 1975.
Singapore maintains that in the last 130 years, Malaysia never once protested to Singapore's activities on the island.
Malaysia also never performed any activities there throughout these years, and has not provided any evidence to prove it owns Pedra Branca.
Professor Jayakumar said earlier that "Malaysia's sudden publication of the map in 1979 in an attempt to claim Pedra Branca was extraordinary, to say the least."
However, the "map could not alter the fact that Singapore has sovereignty over Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge."
In its ownership arguments, Malaysia claims it has the original titles to the island, and it was the Johor rulers who gave the British permission to build the Horsburgh Lighthouse then.
Malaysia also did not protest Singapore's activities because it felt Singapore was exercising her duties as a lighthouse administrator.
In fact, Malaysia said whatever Singapore has done on the island is that expected of just a lighthouse operator.
Malaysia asserts that Singapore cannot view its activities and works as that of exercising sovereignty over Pedra Branca.
Malaysia's Ambassador-at-Large Abdul Kadir Mohamad said on the first day of its oral argument that "Singapore is endeavouring to create for itself a maritime domain which is a far cry from the basis of its presence on Pulau Batu Puteh as lighthouse administrator."
It adds if Singapore had ownership over the island, she should have formally and publicly acknowledged it before 1980, a few months after Malaysia published its map, citing Pedra Branca as one of her territories.
But Malaysia claims Singapore never did that.
Malaysia adds that it too has maps to show the island falls within the territory of the Johor Sultanate.
Mr Abdul Kadir also accused Singapore of "seeking to subvert the arrangements reached between Johor and Great Britain over 150 years ago and maintained throughout the whole period of British rule."
It has been some 27 years since Singapore formally protested to Malaysia's claim of the disputed island.
Now the decision over this dispute lies in the hands of the 16 judges at the ICJ.
The judgment will be final and cannot be appealed.
Both countries have said they will respect and accept the judges' decision. - CNA/de
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