II. MEANS OF SETTLEMENT A.
Negotiations and consultations
21. Referring to negotiation, the International Court of Justice remarked that "there is no need to insist upon the fundamental character of this method of settlement". I It observed in this connection, 2 as did its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice,3 that, unlike other means of settlement, negotiation which leads to "the direct and friendly settlement of ... disputes between parties" is universally accepted. Furthermore, negotiations are usually a prerequisite to resort to other means of peaceful settlement of disputes. This was recognized as far as arbitral or judicial proceedings were concerned by the Permanent Court in the following words: "Before a dispute can be made the subject of an action at law, its subject matter should have been clearly defined by diplomatic negotiations." 4, It should be noted that the term "diplomacy" is used in some treaties, such as the 1949 Revised General Act for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, as a synonym of "negotiations", as is also the phrase "through the usual diplomatic channels" as it appears, for instance, in the 1948 Charter of the Organization of American States. 1. Main characteristics Negotiations 22. The Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes highlights flexibility as one of the characteristics of direct negotiations as a means of peaceful settlement of disputes (sect. I, para. 10). Negotiation is a flexible means of peaceful settlement of disputes in several respects. It can be applied to all kinds of disputes, whether political, legal or technical. Because, unlike the other means listed in Article 33 of the Charter, it involves only the States parties to the dispute, those States can monitor all the phases of the process from its initiation to its conclusion and conduct it in the way they deem most appropriate. ILC.J Reports 1969, p. 48, para. 86.
21n its judgment in the North Sea Continental Shelf case, ibid. 3 1n its Order of 19 April 1929 in the case of the Free Zones of Upper Savoy and the District of Gex 4 (PC.LJ., Series A, No. 22, p. 13). PC.J.J., Series A, No. 2, p. 15. 5 The question of the place which negotiation occupies among other means of peaceful settlement of disputes was discussed, inter alia, in the framework of the United Nations Special Committee on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation
among States. For a summary of the arguments advanced on this question within the Special
Committee, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Twentieth Session, Annexes, agenda items 90 and 94, document A/5746, paras. 156, 158 and 161-163 and ibid., Twenty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 87, document A/6230, paras. 195-206.