The hearing before the ICJ was held over three weeks in November 2007 under the name Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia v. Singapore).

In addition, it had confirmed in a 1953 letter that Johor did not claim ownership of the island, and had published official reports and maps indicating that it regarded Pedra Branca as Singapore territory.

As regards South Ledge, the Court noted that it falls within the apparently overlapping territorial waters generated by mainland Malaysia, Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks.

Malaysia and Singapore have established what they have named the Joint Technical Committee to delimit the maritime boundary in the area around Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks, and to determine the ownership of South Ledge.

The judges were Raymond Ranjeva from Madagascar, Shi Jiuyong from the People's Republic of China, Abdul G. Koroma from Sierra Leone, Gonzalo Parra Aranguren from Venezuela, Thomas Buergenthal from the United States, Hisashi Owada from Japan, Bruno Simma from Germany, Peter Tomka from Slovakia, Ronny Abraham from France, Kenneth Keith from New Zealand, Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor from Mexico, Mohamed Bennouna from Morocco and Leonid Skotnikov from Russia.

[13] Singapore argued that in 1847 Pedra Branca was terra nullius (Latin for "land belonging to no one") as it had never been the subject of a prior claim or manifestation of sovereignty by any sovereign entity.

This was difficult to do with respect to Pedra Branca since it was isolated and uninhabited, and Malaysia had not provided clear evidence of a direct claim to or actual exercise of sovereign authority over the island.

He noted that the rock was outside the limits ceded by Sultan Hussein Shah and the Temenggung with the island of Singapore under the 1824 Crawfurd Treaty they had entered into with the East India Company.

This was evidenced by a telegram that the Malaysian Government had sent to its overseas missions in December 1979, notifying them that the map would "affect" Brunei, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

[39] Article II of the Crawfurd Treaty stated: Their Highnesses the Sultan Hussein Mahomed Shah and Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah hereby cede in full sovereignty and property to the Honourable the English East India Company, their heirs and successors for ever, the Island of Singapore situated in the Straits of Malacca, together with the adjacent seas, straits, and islets, to the extent of ten geographical miles, from the coast of the said main island of Singapore.

This was evidenced by three 19th-century letters written by British officials, including one dated November 1850 by John Turnbull Thomson, the Government Surveyor of Singapore, which had reported on the need to exclude the Orang Laut from Pedra Branca where Horsburgh Lighthouse was being built.

Myself and family for many years have derived support from Singapore, our dependence is wholly on the English Government, and we hope to merit the protection of, and be favoured by the Company on all occasions consistent with propriety.

Among other things, he said that "[t]his Rock is part of the Territories of the Rajah of Johore, who with the Tamongong ... have willingly consented to cede it gratuitously to the East India Company", and enclosed the replies received from the Sultan and Temenggung.

[63] Nonetheless, Malaysia argued that the Sultan and Temenggung's letters amounted to no more than permission to the United Kingdom to build and operate a lighthouse on Peak Rock or some other suitable location.

[90] The purpose of the 1824 Anglo–Dutch Treaty was to finally settle the disputes that had arisen between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands relating to their territorial possessions and commercial interests in the East Indies.

[100] It also did not draw any conclusions about the construction and commissioning of the lighthouse, stating only that it saw the events as "bearing on the issue of the evolving views of the authorities in Johor and Singapore about sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh".

[101] The Court declined to accept Malaysia's argument that the Singapore Colonial Secretary's query about the status of Pedra Branca in 1953 indicated that the United Kingdom had no conviction that the island was part of its territory.

It felt the letter of inquiry showed the Singapore authorities were not clear about events that had occurred over a century earlier and that they were unsure their records were complete, which was understandable in the circumstances.

[102] The meaning of the reply was clear – as of 1953, Johor understood it did not have sovereignty over Pedra Branca, and thus the Singapore authorities had no reason to doubt that the island belonged to the United Kingdom.

[84][112][113] On the day the ICJ released its judgment, Rais Yatim asserted that since South Ledge was within the territorial waters of Middle Rocks, "Malaysia appears to be the sovereign holder".

[116] Nevertheless, in June 2008 Rais Yatim stated that Malaysia had renewed its search for the letter written by Governor Butterworth to the Sultan and Temenggung of Johor seeking permission to build Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca.

[124] On 3 September 2008, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a Kelantan prince and MP from the state, sent a letter to Rais Yatim claiming that Johor's interests had not been raised before the ICJ.

This was condemned by Malaysia's Foreign Minister Rais Yatim as "against the spirit of ASEAN and the legal structure" as the claim was "unacceptable and unreasonable and contradicts the principles of international law".

"[129] Malaysia and Singapore have established what they have named the Joint Technical Committee to delimit the maritime boundary in the area around Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks, and to determine the ownership of South Ledge.

[130] Following a meeting on 3 June 2008, the Committee agreed that a technical sub-committee would be established to oversee the conduct of joint survey works to prepare the way for talks on maritime issues in and around the area.

If any incident occurred in and around the waters of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, either side would provide humanitarian assistance to the vessels involved.

A Sub-Committee on Maritime and Airspace Management and Fisheries had also been formed, and after a meeting on 20 August 2008 it decided that traditional fishing activities by both countries should continue in waters beyond 0.5 nautical miles (0.9 km; 0.6 mi) off Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.

The Malaysian Government said that these documents indicated that "officials at the highest levels in the British colonial and Singaporean administration appreciated that Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh did not form part of Singapore's sovereign territory" during the relevant period.

[138] According to Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, Malaysia and Singapore set up a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) for the implementation of the 2008 ICJ judgment.

According to Malaysia, the JTC reached an impasse in November 2013, as both parties had been unable to agree over the meaning of the 2008 judgement as it concerns the South Ledge and the waters surrounding Pedra Branca.