Croatia's legal team has presented to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) a written response to Serbia's counter-suit to Croatia's lawsuit for alleged aggression and genocide, Director of the Veritas Documentation Centre Savo Strbac told Tanjug Friday.

Croatia's brief was presented to ICJ in complete media silence on December 20, the last day of the deadline set by the court, Strbac said.

Strbac, who is an expert in Serbia's legal team, said the content of the document will remain confidential until the ICJ starts its debate.

On December 20, Tanjug could not get confirmation of reception of Croatia's brief from the ICJ Secretariat.

Any information on written documents, including the date of their presentation, remain confidential until the court starts its debate, and only the party which presented a document can decide whether it can be made public, ICJ Secretary Andrei Poskakukin said at the time.

According to Strbac, Serbia's legal team has received five volumes of Croatia's documents, some of which deny charges from Serbia's counter-suit and others support the arguments in Croatia's lawsuit.

Serbia has a deadline until November 4, 2011, to present a written response to Croatia's latest brief, and the debate is expected to start in the beginning of 2013.