In the absence of agreement each files a memorial, simultaneously, followed by a simultaneous counter-memorial. In practice it usually does, thus resulting in six written pleadings. This inevitably lengthens the whole process, increases the workload of the Court and its Registry, and complicates the task of the States themselves. Experience shows, furthermore, that parties are sometimes tempted, perhaps out of prudence, not to reveal their arguments completely at the memorial stage. This, more often than not, makes a third round of written pleadings inevitable, and it makes the task of reading, understanding and comparing the arguments all the more difficult.
Translation is another vital factor.
Moreover, neither French nor English is the native language of some Members of the Court and that fact may affect the pace of their work. In the recent Gabc kovo-Nagymaros case, pleadings and documents amounted to some 5,000 pages. The burden on the Court's restricted and underfunded translation service is not hard to imagine, and the time it takes to produce adequate translations, even using outside resources where possible, is considerable. Financial constraints are such that it is not possible to put in hand translations of documents in a case which may not be heard for some time and which may even be settled. The Court's practice has been to hear cases, as far as possible, in the order in which they were instituted.