ICJ president: The opinion on Kosovo would not be "an open yes or no"

"It will be necessary to read the answer thoroughly, since the judges can have different opinions," Owada told RIA Novosti.

He explained that the court's conclusion would be on 30 pages, and that the document would "simply have to be studied".

The ICJ will hold an open discussion on the issue December 1-11, 2009, and it is expected that the judges will deliver their opinion a few months after.

In Belgrade, international law professor Tibor Varadi said Owada's statement is unacceptable.

"If it is true that the ICJ President said that the advisory opinion which the UN General Assembly asked of the court on the legality of Kosovo's proclaimed independence will not be decisive, such a statement is completely strange and for me as a lawyer very shocking," Varadi told daily Politika.

"It is hard for me to believe that this happened and that it was not a misunderstanding. Maybe he said that whatever decision is made it will not have a clear message towards the relations between Russia and Georgia," he said.

Varadi represented Serbia in the case before the ICJ filed by Bosnia-Herzegovina against Serbia.

"There is a different between a decision and opinion. Decisions must be clear. For example, when the court was asked whether it had jurisdiction over the Croatian case against Serbia for genocide, ten judges said ‘yes' and seven said ‘no,' therefore the decision of the court was ‘yes.'" Varadi said.

"Every judge will give his or her opinion in the end, and there will probably be one opinion signed by the majority of the judges. It is possible that there will be several opinions, and each will be signed by several judges. But a conclusion can be reached only once the arguments of both parties are heard," Varadi said.