Through the adoption of these rules of procedure ASEAN has brought about
conducive conditions for the establishment and activation of the High Council. A
Council to which the member-states could turn for assistance in resolving border
disputes if negotiations between the parties to the disputes fail. Such a High Council,
if established, may be attractive as an alternative to the ICJ. This should not be
understood as an argument implying that parties to a dispute should not bring such
disputes to the ICJ no matter the circumstances. On the contrary, the ICJ can still be
used as an alternative if the bilateral and regional conflict management approaches
and efforts fail to lead to settlement of a dispute that is acceptable to the parties to
the dispute.