The Kingdom of Corrino is a constitutional monarchy, located in central Europe and part of the European Union. It is a highly developed country, with a large population and several major industrial centres. It is a worldwide known producer of heavy machinery and automotive parts, and in recent years has also received major investments in semi-conductors and chip manufacturing. A sprawling tech industry has sprouted in its capital, Branden, thanks to the city being the home of several important financial institutions and two of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the continent.

The Democratic Republic of Arraken is a small mountainous state, located in southeastern Europe, with the Black Sea to its south. It only has one neighbour country, Corrino, located to its north and west. While adjacent to it, Arraken is not a Member State of the European Union, nor is it part of the European Economic Area.

Arraken gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire following the end of the First World War and it was subsequently governed by different dictatorships. Only in 2005 did it transition to a liberal democracy, after a long and deadly military insurrection. It is ranked among the lowest in Europe in most international economic and human development rankings. Arraken has a small economy focused on fishing, canneries, salt extraction and livestock, mostly sheep. However, in recent years it has seen its tourism sector expand drastically, now totalling almost 48% of its GDP.

This rapid growth can be explained by several factors. Despite the many challenges that it faces, Arraken has become renowned for its rich biodiversity, having prioritised environmental conservation as a national policy over the last 70 years – an obsession shared by Vladimir Ivansson and his father, the previous dictator. The country is almost completely covered by large autochthonous forests and comprises the basin of the Melange River, practically untouched by human activity. It only has one small city, its capital Bucapest, and a few small towns. The country became a novel tourist destination after several Corrinian film and television productions used its sights and settings as “picturesque villages”, “haunted forests” and “abandoned castles”, thereby attracting a worldwide audience. It is often described as a beautiful country that allows its visitors to “travel back in time to the 13th Century”. The Melange River estuary has even been called one of the natural wonders of the world.

While the Arraken government has been savvy in exploiting this newfound potential, as a result it has identified certain flaws in the country’s development. Its airport in Bucapest is too small to accommodate the massive influx of visitors, the tourists are causing disturbances among the local population and to their cultural practices, and the economy has become so heavily dependent on this source of revenue that it is posing problems to its own sustainable development. Any major construction plan, infrastructure investment (such as a modern industrial port) or even new housing compromises the idyllic image that has become the nation’s postcard. Most noteworthy, the source of the Melange River is located in Corrino.

Arraken’s people have several centuries-old traditions surrounding the Melange River. Every spring, a large salmon population enters the Melange estuary, travels up the river almost to its source, and spawns massive amounts of eggs. This migration is a massively important event for the people of Arraken, who celebrate it with extensive rituals and events. When the “first salmon is sighted” during the first full moon of March, a week-long festival begins across the country. When the “last salmon departs” in the beginning of the summer, another festival happens. Salmon and their eggs are an important staple of Arrakian cuisine. It is said that there are hundreds of recipes for the eggs and thousands for the salmon. To swim among the salmon is considered such a good omen that all young men and desperate politicians try it.

In February 2026, a regional conflict sparked in Eastern Europe, causing massive economic shockwaves in Corrino. Corrino imported large amounts of coal from the warring states and was thus faced with an energy crisis that threatened to topple its economy and cause large-scale unrest. In an effort to respond to these problems, the Corrino government launched a public investment programme under which it loaned funds for the construction of new power plants and the switching of existing plants from coal to natural gas, imported from overseas. Following the EU’s latest plans for the energy transition and decarbonisation, especially the fit-for-55 package, the Paris Agreement commitments, and Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021, the Corrino government decided to speed up its energy transition.

Among the many initiatives undertaken, Corrino authorised the construction of a new dam at the source of the Melange River and of a gas-fired power station a bit further downstream, near the border with Arraken. The licence of both projects was awarded tothe National Corrinian Power Company, also known as NCPC.
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After being publicly owned for 120 years, the NCPC was privatised in 2020 in a highly controversial process. The Corrino government still holds 36% of the NCPC shares, has the right to directly appoint at least three members of the Board, and has a special veto right over the appointment of the president of the Board, the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, and many other major decisions that affect the company’s annual budget and main assets. Many critics have pointed out that the NCPC’s Board has become a “revolving door” for past ministers and secretaries of state of the government’s majority, with some appointees coming directly from the Office of the Crown, the consulting body of senators appointed by the King.

The new construction projects in the Melange River have been criticised by many in Corrino, including the press, several NGOs, and the NCPC’s competition. The authorisation process was unusually fast, with less than three months having elapsed between the public announcement of the projects by the NCPC in November 2026 (the respective requests having been submitted in mid-December) and the granting of the authorisation in early January 2027. The construction of both projects officially began in late January 2027.

When questioned on the environmental impact assessment of both projects, Corrino’s Infrastructure and Energy Minister claimed that “all necessary procedures were followed; we have all the necessary studies and impact assessments. You need to trust us; we have all the paperwork. The energy transition is a huge imperative for us. I personally put my best men and women working on this”. The Office of the Minister had been accused of repeatedly applying a provision of the General Protection of the Environment Law that allows for the waiver of several obligations, such as the mandatory consultation of several independent regulators, local municipalities, and other stakeholders when an infrastructure project is considered vital for the national interests. The Office of the Minister also denied requests for access to documentation by press organisations, environmental NGOs, and academics, claiming that the disclosure of this documentation could compromise national security, using a prerogative of the recently amended national Digital Strategy and Cybersecurity Law.
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During this authorisation and licensing procedure, the government of Arraken was never officially consulted by Corrino. In a live interview held on 31 December 2026, Leto Kynes, the Prime Minister of Arraken, was caught by surprise when questioned on the possible impact of the new dam and gas-fired power plant on the Melange River and its salmon migration. On 1 January 2027, the Arraken government announced that it had contacted the Corrino government to request bilateral talks regarding the new projects to be located at the source of the Melange River.

The representatives of the Corrino and Arraken governments met in Branden, Corrino’s capital, on 5 January 2027. They held a press conference announcing that negotiations had begun regarding the management of the Melange River and that both parties were very optimistic on reaching a mutually beneficial compromise. The delegations would constitute a working group with bi-monthly meetings, working towards a potential new treaty on the Melange River. On 6 January 2027, Leto Kynes repeated the announcement during a heavily televised visit to the facilities where that year’s migration festival and parade were being prepared. In his statements before the press, he stressed the belief that these negotiations would allow both nations to come to an agreement and conclude a new treaty allowing for the equitable and fair management of the Melange River. The very next day, the Corrino government announced the approval of both projects.

The number of protests in Arraken increased over the following weeks, with many claiming that if the government could not stop the construction of the dam, that year’s festival could very well be the last. Leto Kynes made many attempts to at least temporarily halt the construction of both projects, but was largely unsuccessful. At that year’s summer festival, balls of salmon eggs were thrown at Leto Kynes by the crowd. After several government resignations, Leto Kynes also stepped down in December 2027, with new elections being called. The electoral campaign was heavily centred on protecting the Melange River, upholding the sovereignty of Arraken, and handling its problem of excessive tourism. To a greateror lesser degree, all parties engaged in nationalist rhetoric.

The new government of Arraken took office in February 2028. Paul Harkonnen, the new Prime Minister, promised to take any measure necessary to stop both projects approved by Corrino.

Although the previous government had begun funding scientific environmental research focused on the Melange River in February 2027, there was a consensus that there were not enough teams conducting surveys and collecting data, while the few that existed suffered from limited means and know-how. During his first week in office, Paul Harkonnen enacted a decree establishing a new public research fund to focus on the Melange River and its ecological reserves, with four times the previous budget allocated to national research projects, taking on debt to finance this project. A new publicly funded research line on the cultural importance of the Melange River for Arraken national identity was also created, funded through the sale of commemorative stamps, private donations, and a share of the new tax on tourist arrivals.

Less than two weeks later, Paul Harkonnen and the Minister for Foreign Affairs held a press conference where they announced the completion of a high-level audit of the ongoing diplomatic negotiations. They concluded that the Corrino government had been engaging in sabotage tactics. These included constant rescheduling of meetings, frequent turnover and rotation of Corrino’s negotiators, lack of preparation, withholding of information and important documentation, and long periods of hiatus for national holidays, among others. On one occasion, the Corrinian delegation was composed of only interns and first-year officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all lacking the appropriate authority, information, and powers to conduct the summit. On another occasion, most Corrino representatives were not fluent in English, the agreed working language, and insisted on conducting the meeting in German and French.

The day after the press conference, the Corrino government publicly acknowledged and lamented that there had been some mishandling of the negotiations, whilst disputing any accusation of intentional subterfuge. From 10 March 2028 onwards, after new emergency calls between the offices of both prime ministers, the diplomatic negotiations were held based on a different model, with new rules detailing the designation of officers, the exchange of documents, and the scheduling of weekly meetings.

As the months progressed, despite adhering to the renewed compromise on rules of procedure, the negotiations stalled, with the delegations unable to reach a consensus on the following topics:
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In the spring of 2028, Paul Harkonnen and the Arrakian government began an international campaign to raise awareness regarding the environmental collapse of the Melange River and its ecological reserves, the threats posed to Arraken’s regional biological biodiversity, as well as the cultural significance of the salmon to the Arrakian people, denouncing Corrino’s perceived unjust treatment of Arraken and its near imperialistic approach. Paul Harkonnen gave speeches at the UN General Assembly, the European Parliament, and the national parliaments of Greece, Romania, Turkey, Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, Armenia, and Croatia.

By late October 2028, the Melange River had lost much of its flow and it had become visible to the naked eye that the riverbanks had receded, as if struck by a massive drought. The gas power plant, which began working that month, also raised concerns in Arraken that it could be affecting the temperature of the water and the quality of the air,impacting both the river and the forests downstream.

By January 2029, most scientific studies commissioned by the Arraken government were nearly unanimous in their conclusions: the soon-to-be-finished dam was already causing damage to all the natural reserves, parks, and forests along the Melange River. The salmon life cycle and future migrations would be extremely disrupted due to the smaller riverbed and warmer temperatures upstream. This would result in shorter migrations, less production of eggs, and diminishing salmon populations.

The exception to the scientific consensus were two teams of international researchers who voiced concerns regarding the lack of substantial data prior to and during the first phase of construction of the two projects, which raised several difficulties, including in terms of comparing the before-and-after scenarios. While they agreed with the overall findings of the other studies, they were more cautious in determining to what extent the damage could be attributed to the construction and operation of the new projects.

Other important factors could also be distorting the data, notably the impact of climate change, with rising temperatures, changes in early and seasonal precipitation in Arraken’s territory, the Black Sea currents, among others. While the credibility of one of the two teams was put in question due to the presence of several Corrinian researchers, including among its leadership (which led to Arraken terminating their funding), the other team’s concerns were acknowledged and considered by the international community and the Arraken government.

Paul Harkonnen publicly restated the requests for access to the environmental data collected by the Corrino government, but the latter maintained its position. Many in the international press believed that this silence was justified by fears that either the data did not exist, or that its disclosure would allow Arraken to properly quantify the damages and seek reparations.
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At this point, the European Commission announced that it had opened infringement procedures against the majority of the European Union Member States for failing to meet their energy transition targets. Corrino was one of the spared few, but it had just barely met the deadlines. A week later, the European Commission warned the Member States of the need to promote measures to ensure that the European Union meets the biodiversity restoration and conservation goals to which it is internationally bound in a timely manner.

In March 2029, Paul Harkonnen opened the “first salmon is sighted” ceremony with a very inflammatory speech, targeting Corrino and the new dam and gas power plant. He repeatedly denounced the hypocritical and imperialistic approach of Corrino, which had only met its international commitments and the European Union targets “by defrauding and discriminating its neighbours”, “causing extensive environmental damages to Arraken and the Melange River in the name of sustainability”. He also claimed that Corrino would pay for all this, and that Arraken’s national pride would not allow this situation to continue any longer.

After much uproar from the audience, Paul Harkonnen ended the speech by repeating his campaign slogan: that he would find a way of “tearing down” the dam if necessary. Galvanized by the Prime Minister’s speech, the crowd began to move towards the Corrino Embassy in Bucapest. After moments of tension with the Corrino security forces deployed to protect the Embassy, the crowd managed to force its way in. For more than three hours, until the Arraken security forces managed to re-establish order, several members of this crowd roamed freely around the Embassy, destroying and stealing various items and equipment. Five members of the Embassy staff were injured.
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Over the following days, the Arraken police investigated the occurrence. It found that members of the Youth Association of the Fedaykeen Party (the ruling party in the Arraken government) had sent digital copies of hard drives from computers stolen from the Embassy to members of the national and international press, claiming that those drives, if decrypted, could contain the data withheld by the Corrino diplomatic envoys. The Protector, a renowned international newspaper, published an extensive report revealing that it had received a drive containing credible correspondence from the Corrino government admitting that the NCPC had not conducted an environmental impact assessment for the dam’s construction, nor had it taken the necessary measures during the construction phase to mitigate any possible damages.

When this news was published, members of the Youth Association of the Fedaykeen Party were spotted attempting to cross the border to reach the dam. The reports of both the Corrino border guard and the Arraken police make reference to tenable evidence that these party members were carrying explosives to strike the dam.

Due to the continued lack of progress and the new information that came to light regarding the diplomatic negotiations, Arraken decided to bring proceedings in the International Court of Justice against Corrino.

Arraken submitted a brief to the Court with the following requests:
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Corrino disputed all allegations made by Arraken, requesting that the Court declare that:
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Arraken then submitted an additional brief denying responsibility for the damages to the Corrino Embassy.
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Corrino and Arraken both joined the United Nations and several of its specialised agencies in 1962. Both countries are also, and have been at all relevant times, parties to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Law of the Sea Convention, the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses, and the UN Convention on Biological Biodiversity, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Both countries voted in favour of the General Assembly resolution approving the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

Finally, both recognise the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice to adjudicate this dispute and acknowledge the facts described in this case.
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