Case Concerning the Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 Preliminary Matters One of the preliminary questions for the Court was whether the change in circumstances regarding Mr. Yerodia's new status rendered the case moot and thus denied the Court jurisdiction. The majority of the Court held that its jurisdiction commences on the date when the case is referred to it, which does not cease upon the emergence of subsequent events. At the time when proceedings began, there existed a legal dispute concerning the legality of the arrest warrant. Subsequent events may render an application without object so that a decision is not necessary but the change in this case did not end the dispute and deprive the DRC's application without object. The legality of the arrest warrant was still in dispute. Moreover, the DRC did not claim that they were acting in the context of protecting its own nationals and therefore Mr. Yerodia's current status had no bearing on whether the rights of the DRC had been violated.
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