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On 21 April, the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) will ship its verdict on a case between Colombia and Nicaragua over contested waters within the Caribbean. Whereas the potential for inter-state battle between the 2 nations is minimal, it’s nonetheless necessary for this battle to be resolved and for worldwide legislation to be each revered and neutral.
The Case
The case in query considerations “Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Areas within the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia).” The Court docket has reported {that a} verdict might be delivered on the Peace Palace, The Hague, at 10 AM (Netherlands time) on the aforementioned date.
This isn’t the primary case on the ICJ between the 2 nations. Quite the opposite, the present case is a follow-up to the “Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia)” case which commenced in 2001. On 6 December of stated yr, Nicaragua filed an software instituting proceedings towards Colombia with respect to a dispute regarding “a bunch of associated authorized points” between the 2 States “regarding title to territory and maritime delimitation” in Caribbean waters. The San Andrés Archipelago, a part of Colombia, was a focus of competition – the Archipelago is situated some 700 km from Colombia, however solely round 120 km from the Nicaraguan coast.
That case took a decade to be resolved; on 19 November 2012, the ICJ delivered its verdict. We’ll briefly summarize key elements of the binding verdict as they’re related to the forthcoming occasions of 21 April. In 2012, the Court docket:
- Unanimously discovered that Colombia has sovereignty over the islands and cays: Alburquerque, Bajo Nuevo, East-Southeast Cays, Quitasueño, Roncador, Serrana, and Serranilla,
- Unanimously determined that the road of the one maritime boundary delimiting the continental shelf and the unique financial zones of Nicaragua and Colombia shall observe geodetic strains connecting factors listed within the verdict,
- Unanimously determined that the one maritime boundary round Quitasueño and Serrana islands shall observe, respectively, a “12-nautical-mile envelope of arcs” that are defined within the verdict,
- Unanimously rejected Nicaragua’s declare requesting the Court docket to state that Colombia was not appearing per worldwide legislation obligations by stopping Nicaragua from getting access to pure sources situated east of the 82nd meridian.
To summarize, whereas Colombia retained management over the islands and cays, it misplaced management of some maritime territory, which the ICJ dominated would go to Nicaragua. Finally, the 2012 ruling didn’t resolve the border dispute as one yr later, in November 2013, Nicaragua instituted proceedings towards Colombia, as soon as once more, on the Worldwide Court docket of Justice. This time the brand new case handled a “dispute [which] considerations the violations of Nicaragua’s sovereign rights and maritime zones” which have been delineated within the 2012 case. Nicaragua additionally accused Colombia of threatening to make use of power towards Nicaraguan vessels. Quickly, we are going to know the ICJ’s verdict.
It’s value noting that aside from the aforementioned case, which might be resolved on 21 April, there’s one other pending case between the 2 nations. In September 2013, Nicaragua instituted one other set of proceedings towards Colombia. This new case offers with a “dispute [which] considerations the delimitation of the boundaries between, on the one hand, the continental shelf of Nicaragua past the 200-nautical-mile restrict from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Nicaragua is measured, and then again, the continental shelf of Colombia,” explains the Court docket.
This second case remains to be open; nevertheless, it’s fascinating that there haven’t been new developments for years. The final public replace was a December 2017 press launch which defined that the ICJ “licensed the submission of a Reply by the Republic of Nicaragua and a Rejoinder by the Republic of Colombia.” The way forward for this case will in all probability rely on the end result of the 21 April verdict, which can probably have an effect on the technique of each events.
Extra Developments
Whereas the dispute has not turned violent, there have nonetheless been some regarding developments in recent times. In January 2021, the Nicaraguan Nationwide Meeting created a biosphere reserve in Caribbean waters (“Ley que declara y outline Reserva de biosfera del Caribe Nicaraguense”), which covers 44,157 thousand sq. kilometers. Bogota rebuked this undertaking, because it contains contested waters.
Outstanding Colombians have pronounced themselves on this dispute, arguing that it is vital for the federal government to guard the nation’s maritime territory. Fishing rights are a important subject, aside from an apparent concern about dropping (extra) territory. In March 2021, the Colombian navy and air power deployed frigates ARC Almirante Padilla and ARC Antioquía, helicopters, and IAI Kfir warplanes to the Caribbean to train Sovereignty 2021. Whereas neither the Colombian authorities nor the armed forces talked about of their press launch the border dispute with Nicaragua, we will assume that this was a present of power by Bogota to reveal its capabilities.
The Nicaraguan authorities has a really restricted on-line presence because the presidency’s and ministry of overseas affairs’ web sites are presently not practical. Twitter accounts of state businesses or authorities officers are seldom up to date, which limits a correct understanding of what Managua expects from the upcoming verdict. The primary Nicaraguan newspaper, La Prensa, is an opposition outlet that routinely criticizes the Daniel Ortega regime; protection of the case by the newspaper has been minimal. The professional-government newspaper El 19 has not given the case main protection both.
Lastly, it’s value noting that whereas the circumstances on the ICJ are comparatively new, the dispute goes again centuries. Whereas a historic overview of the dispute is just not the target of this evaluation, it’s nonetheless necessary to remember. On 20 February 2021, (ret.) Military Brigadier Basic Julio Londoño Paredes, a former minister of overseas affairs of Colombia, gave a presentation in a webinar organized by the Colombian group Fundación Excelencia, Liderazgo y Transformación, and the Universidad del Rosario, concerning the circumstances on the ICJ, the historical past of this dispute, and the authorized arguments of each events.
Latin America and Worldwide Legislation
Worldwide legislation has develop into a focus in latest months because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ICJ has opened a case about the battle, named “Allegations of Genocide below the Conference on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).”
As for Latin America, aside from the 2 Colombia v Nicaragua circumstances, a few of the ICJ’s pending circumstances embody Belize v. Guatemala, Bolivia v. Chile and Guyana v. Venezuela. Final decade there have been two ICJ verdicts relating to Latin America: in 2014, the ICJ dominated on a border dispute case between Chile v. Peru, and in addition dominated in 2018 on a case between Bolivia v. Chile.
Worldwide Legislation: Respect and Criticism
Whereas worldwide authorized regimes exist to peacefully resolve disputes, they’re additionally criticized as a result of a scarcity of enforcement mechanisms (the United Nations is a problematic enforcer); a scarcity of respect for worldwide legislation by international powers; and the assumption that courts just like the Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC) concentrate on investigating and prosecuting crimes dedicated throughout the growing nations of the International South whereas turning a blind eye to crimes dedicated, for instance, by international powers or Western European states.
The ICJ itself is just not above criticism. For instance a 2005 essay in The Journal Of Authorized Research, titled “Is the Worldwide Court docket of Justice Biased?” analyzed 4 typical accusations towards the ICJ:
- judges favor the states that appoint them,
- judges favor states whose wealth degree is near that of their dwelling states,
- judges favor states whose political system is much like that of their dwelling states,
- judges favor states whose tradition (language and faith) is much like that of their dwelling states.
Living proof, within the present case between Ukraine and Russia on the ICJ, the Court docket dominated that “the Russian Federation shall instantly droop the army operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 within the territory of Ukraine.” Notably, out of 15 judges, 13 voted in favor and two towards. The 2 votes towards got here from Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian, from the Russian Federation; and Choose Xue Hanquin, from the Folks’s Republic of China.
Whereas the target of this evaluation is to not talk about the validity, or lack thereof, of the aforementioned complaints concerning the ICJ, it’s nonetheless exceptional that regardless of them, Latin American governments flip to this establishment to resolve border disputes. As soon as once more, it is a optimistic signal of regional governments preferring authorized battles to army conflicts. As for the case of Colombia v. Nicaragua, hopefully, the Court docket’s verdict will put an finish to the dispute, the opposite parallel case however.
The views expressed on this article belong to the authors alone and don’t essentially mirror these of Geopoliticalmonitor.com
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