Indonesia and Malaysia jointly seized the Court on 2 November 1998 of their dispute concerning sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan, two islands in the Celebes Sea. They did so by notifying the Court of a Special Agreement, which was signed between them on 31 May 1997 at Kuala Lumpur and entered into force on 14 May 1998. In the Special Agreement, the Parties request the Court “to determine on the basis of the treaties, agreements and any other evidence furnished by [them], whether sovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan belongs to the Republic of Indonesia or to Malaysia.” They express the wish to settle their dispute “in the spirit of friendly relations existing between [them] as enunciated in the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia” and declare in advance that they will “accept the Judgment of the Court given pursuant to [the] Special Agreement as final and binding upon them.”