Judge Abraham has notified the tribunal that he agreed to be appointed Slovenia's representative in hope this would help restore trust between two sides in the proceedings and enable a normal continuation of the process, with the approval of both sides.
After seeing that the current situation cannot meet those expectations, Judge Abraham decided that this role was no longer appropriate for him, according to a press release.
In accordance with the Arbitration Agreement, it is now up to the Slovenian government to appoint another arbitrator who will replace Judge Abraham, the PCA said.
The tribunal also called on Slovenia to submit its objections to the letter which the Republic of Croatia submitted on 31 July.
In that letter, Croatia notified the tribunal it could not continue the arbitration process in good faith, the PCA said.
On July 27, the Slovenian government appointed the President of the International Court of Justice, Ronny Abraham, to replace Jernej Sekolec as a judge in the arbitration tribunal after a scandal broke out when the Zagreb-based Vecernji List daily published transcripts revealing that a Slovenian judge sitting on the arbitration tribunal and a Slovenian Foreign Ministry official had secretly discussed the case and lobbied other judges to influence the outcome of the arbitration in Slovenia's favour.
According to the transcript of a conversation between Judge Jernej Sekolec and Foreign Ministry official Simona Drenik, the arbitration tribunal would have awarded most of the disputed Bay of Savudrija, known in Slovenia as the Bay of Piran, to Slovenia. The two officials have in the meantime resigned.
Some claimed that this appointment of the French legal expert was Miro Cerar's brilliant manoeuvre, after Croatian intelligence services compromised the arbitration.