The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today gave its decision on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Argentina in the case concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay...In its Order, the Court finds, by 14 votes to 1, that “the circumstances, as they now present themselves...are not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures”...The Court observes...that there is “nothing in the record to demonstrate that the very decision by Uruguay to authorize the construction of the mills [by Botnia & Ence] poses an imminent threat of irreparable damage to the aquatic environment of the River Uruguay or to the economic and social interests of the riparian inhabitants on the Argentine side of the river”...The Court cites earlier decisions in which it stressed the great significance it attaches to respect for the environment.