Corrigé
Corrected
CR 2016/11
International Court Cour internationale
of Justice de Justice
THE HAGUE LA HAYE
YEAR 2016
Public sitting
held on Tuesday 20 September 2016, at 10 a.m., at the Peace Palace,
President Abraham presiding,
in the case concerning Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean
(Somalia v. Kenya)
Preliminary Objections
____________________
VERBATIM RECORD
____________________
ANNÉE 2016
Audience publique
tenue le mardi 20 septembre 2016, à 10 heures, au Palais de la Paix,
sous la présidence de M. Abraham, président,
en l’affaire relative à la Délimitation maritime dans l’océan Indien
(Somalie c. Kenya)
Exceptions préliminaires
________________
COMPTE RENDU
________________ - 2 -
Present: President Abraham
Vice-President Yusuf
Judges Owada
Tomka
Bennouna
Cançado Trindade
Greenwood
Xue
Donoghue
Gaja
Sebutinde
Bhandari
Robinson
Crawford
Gevorgian
Judge ad hoc Guillaume
Registrar Couvreur
- 3 -
Présents : M. Abraham, président
M. Yusuf, vice-président
MM. Owada
Tomka
Bennouna
Cançado Trindade
Greenwood
Mmes Xue
Donoghue
M. Gaja
Mme Sebutinde
MM. Bhandari
Robinson
Crawford
Gevorgian, juges
M. Guillaume, juge ad hoc
M. Couvreur, greffier
- 4 -
The Government of Somalia is represented by:
H.E. Mr. Ali Said Faqi, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia to the Kingdom of
Belgium,
as Co-Agent;
Ms Mona Al-Sharmani, Attorney-at-Law, Senior Legal Adviser to the President of the Federal
Republic of Somalia,
as Deputy-Agent;
Mr. Paul S. Reichler, Attorney-at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the United States
Supreme Court and the District of Columbia,
Mr. Alain Pellet, Professor at the University of Paris Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense, former Member
and former Chairman of the International Law Commission, member of the Institut de droit
international,
Mr. Philippe Sands, Q.C., Professor of International Law at University College London, Barrister
at Matrix Chambers, London,
as Counsel and Advocates;
Mr. Lawrence H. Martin, Attorney-at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the United
States Supreme Court, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Ms Alina Miron, Professor of International Law at the University of Angers,
Mr. Edward Craven, Barrister at Matrix Chambers, London,
Mr. Nicholas M. Renzler, Attorney-at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the District of
Columbia and the State of New York,
as Counsel;
Ms Lea Main-Klingst, Matrix Chambers, London,
as Junior Counsel;
Mr. Mohamed Omar, Senior Adviser to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia,
Mr. Ahmed Ali Dahir, Attorney-General of the Federal Republic of Somalia,
H.E. Mr. Yusuf Garaad Omar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic
of Somalia to the United Nations, New York,
Admiral Farah Ahmed Omar, former Admiral of the Somali Navy and the Chairman of Research
Institute for Ocean Affairs, Mogadishu, - 5 -
Mr. Daud Awes, Spokesperson of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia,
Mr. Abubakar Mohamed Abubakar, Director, Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
as Advisers;
Ms Kathryn Kalinowski, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington, DC,
Ms Nancy Lopez, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington, DC,
as Assistants. - 6 -
Le Gouvernement de la Somalie est représenté par :
S. Exc. M. Ali Said Faqi, ambassadeur de la République fédérale de Somalie auprès du Royaume
de Belgique,
comme coagent ;
Mme Mona Al-Sharmani, avocate, conseillère juridique principale auprès du président de la
République fédérale de Somalie,
comme agent adjoint ;
M. Paul S. Reichler, avocat au cabinet Foley Hoag LLP, membre des barreaux de la Cour suprême
des Etats-Unis d’Amérique et du district de Columbia,
M. Alain Pellet, professeur à l’Université de Paris Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense, ancien membre et
ancien président de la Commission du droit international, membre de l’Institut de droit
international,
M. Philippe Sands, Q.C., professeur de droit international au University College de Londres,
avocat, Matrix Chambers (Londres),
comme conseils et avocats ;
M. Lawrence H. Martin, avocat au cabinet Foley Hoag LLP, membre des barreaux de la Cour
suprême des Etats-Unis d’Amérique, du district de Columbia et du Commonwealth du
Massachusetts,
Mme Alina Miron, professeur de droit international à l’Université d’Angers,
M. Edward Craven, avocat, Matrix Chambers (Londres),
M. Nicholas M. Renzler, avocat au cabinet Foley Hoag LLP, membre des barreaux du district de
Columbia et de l’Etat de New York,
comme conseils ;
Mme Lea Main-Klingst, Matrix Chambers (Londres),
comme conseil auxiliaire ;
M. Mohamed Omar, conseiller principal auprès du président de la République fédérale de Somalie,
M. Ahmed Ali Dahir, Attorney-General de la République fédérale de Somalie,
S. Exc. M. l’ambassadeur Yusuf Garaad Omar, représentant permanent de la République fédérale
de Somalie auprès de l’Organisation des Nations Unies (New York),
Amiral Farah Ahmed Omar, ancien amiral de la marine somalienne et président de l’Institut de
recherche sur les affaires maritimes de Mogadiscio, - 7 -
M. Daud Awes, porte-parole du président de la République fédérale de Somalie,
M. Abubakar Mohamed Abubakar, directeur des affaires maritimes au ministère des affaires
étrangères,
comme conseillers ;
Mme Kathryn Kalinowski, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington,
Mme Nancy Lopez, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington,
comme assistants. - 8 -
The Government of Kenya is represented by:
Professor Githu Muigai, E.G.H., S.C., Attorney-General of the Republic of Kenya,
as Agent;
H.E. Ms Rose Makena Muchiri, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to the Kingdom of the
Netherlands,
as Co-Agent;
Mr. Vaughan Lowe, Q.C., member of the English Bar, Emeritus Professor of International Law,
University of Oxford, member of the Institut de droit international,
Mr. Payam Akhavan, LL.M. S.J.D. (Harvard), Professor of International Law, McGill University,
member of the State Bar of New York and of the Law Society of Upper Canada, member of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration,
Mr. Mathias Forteau, Professor at the University of Paris Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense, member of
the International Law Commission,
Mr. Alan Boyle, Professor of International Law at the University of Edinburgh, member of the
English Bar,
Mr. Karim A. A. Khan, Q.C., member of the English Bar,
as Counsel and Advocates;
Ms Amy Sander, member of the English Bar,
Ms Philippa Webb, Reader in Public International Law, King’s College, London, member of the
English Bar and of the New York Bar,
Mr. Eirik Bjorge, Shaw Foundation Junior Research Fellow in Law at the University of Oxford,
as Counsel;
Hon. Senator Amos Wako, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights,
Hon. Samuel Chepkonga, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs,
Ms Juster Nkoroi, E.B.S., Head, Kenya International Boundaries Office,
Mr. Michael Guchayo Gikuhi, Director, Kenya International Boundaries Office,
Ms Njeri Wachira, Head, International Law Division, Office of the Attorney-General and
Department of Justice,
Ms Stella Munyi, Director, Legal Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ms Stella Orina, Deputy Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Rotiken Kaitikei, Foreign Service Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, - 9 -
Le Gouvernement du Kenya est représenté par :
M. Githu Muigai, professeur, E.G.H., S.C., Attorney General de la République du Kenya,
comme agent ;
S. Exc. Mme Rose Makena Muchiri, ambassadeur de la République du Kenya auprès du Royaume
des Pays-Bas,
comme coagent ;
M. Vaughan Lowe, Q.C., membre du barreau d’Angleterre, professeur émérite de droit
international à l’Université d’Oxford, membre de l’Institut de droit international,
M. Payam Akhavan, LL.M., S.J.D (Harvard), professeur de droit international à
l’Université McGill, membre du barreau de l’Etat de New York et du barreau du Haut-Canada,
membre de la Cour permanente d’arbitrage,
M. Mathias Forteau, professeur à l’Université Paris Ouest, Nanterre-La Défense, membre de la
Commission du droit international,
M. Alan Boyle, professeur de droit international à l’Université d’Edimbourg, membre du barreau
d’Angleterre,
M. Karim A. A. Khan, Q.C., membre du barreau d’Angleterre,
comme conseils et avocats ;
Mme Amy Sander, membre du barreau d’Angleterre,
Mme Philippa Webb, chargée d’enseignement maître de conférences en droit international public
au King’s College (Londres), membre du barreau d’Angleterre et du barreau de New York,
M. Eirik Bjorge, assistant de recherche en droit à la Fondation Shaw de l’Université d’Oxford,
comme conseils ;
M. Amos Wako, sénateur, président de la commission permanente du Sénat chargée des affaires
juridiques et des droits de l’homme,
M. Samuel Chepkonga, président de la commission parlementaire de la justice et des affaires
juridiques,
Mme Juster Nkoroi, E.B.S., chef du service des frontières internationales du Kenya,
M. Michael Guchayo Gikuhi, directeur au service des frontières internationales du Kenya,
Mme Njeri Wachira, directrice de la division du droit international, bureau de l’Attorney General et
ministère de la justice,
Mme Stella Munyi, directrice de la division juridique, ministère des affaires étrangères,
Mme Stella Orina, directrice ajointe, ministère des affaires étrangères,
M. Rotiken Kaitikei, diplomate, ministère des affaires étrangères, - 10 -
Ms Pauline Mcharo, Senior Principal State Counsel, Office of the Attorney-General and
Department of Justice,
Ms Wanjiku Wakogi, Governance Adviser, Office of the Attorney-General and Department of
Justice,
Mr. Samuel Kaumba, State Counsel, Office of the Attorney-General and Department of Justice,
Mr. Hudson Andambi, Minstry of Energy,
as Advisers. - 11 -
Mme Pauline Mcharo, Senior Principal State Counsel, bureau de l’Attorney General et ministère
de la justice,
Mme Wanjiku Wakogi, conseillère en gouvernance, bureau de l’Attorney General et ministère de
la justice,
M. Samuel Kaumba, State Counsel, bureau de l’Attorney General et ministère de la justice,
M. Hudson Andambi, ministère de l’énergie,
comme conseillers. - 12 -
Le PRESIDENT : Veuillez vous asseoir. L’audience est ouverte.
La Cour se réunit aujourd’hui pour entendre le premier tour de plaidoiries de la Somalie. Je
donne à présent la parole à S. Exc. Mme Mona Al-Sharmani, agent adjoint. Excellence, vous avez
la parole.
Ms AL-SHARMANI:
INTRODUCTION AND STRUCTURE OF ORAL ARGUMENT
1. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, it is a great honour and a privilege for
me to appear before you today as Deputy-Agent for the Federal Republic of Somalia. With me on
behalf of the Somali Government is our Co-Agent, H.E. Ali Said Faqi, Somalia’s Ambassador to
the Kingdom of Belgium, and the Honourable Ahmed Dahir, Attorney-General of the Federal
Republic of Somalia.
2. Please allow me to begin with an expression of thanks. The President of Somalia,
H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has personally asked me to convey to you — to the entire Court —
the gratitude of the Somali nation. This is the first time Somalia has appeared as a party before an
international court or tribunal. Even at this early stage, we have been greatly comforted by the
efficiency and impartiality with which you have managed our case. We are confident that this
Court will — as its name attests — do justice in accordance with international law.
3. We also wish to thank the Honourable Agent of Kenya for the kind greetings he extended
to us yesterday, and return them to him and his team warmly.
4. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, it is no secret that Somalia has faced
considerable challenges. Our recent history has been fraught with instability, poverty and conflict.
For long years, we have endured civil war, humanitarian disasters and the scourge of terrorism.
5. But a brighter future is within our grasp. Since 2012, Somalia has had a functioning
federal government under the leadership of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. With the support
of international partners, we have a constitution that enshrines the rule of law and parliamentary
democracy as bedrock principles.
6. Public institutions are being rebuilt. Next month we will have presidential and
parliamentary elections. And life is springing back to cities like Mogadishu, Hargeissa, Bossaso, - 13 -
Kismayo, Galkayo, Baidoa and many other places in Somalia. Local businesses are doing well. A
new generation of Somalis is graduating with educational training, and many in the Somali
diaspora are returning to assist with the rebuilding efforts.
7. We recognize, and express our deep gratitude to our Kenyan brothers and sisters for their
enormous assistance in making this possible. In fact, we wish to thank all our African and other
partners who continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in taking our country forward.
8. Mr. President, Members of the Court, for the first time, Somalia is in a position to have
recourse to international dispute settlement mechanisms to protect our rights under international
law — including our rights over maritime areas and the resources they hold. As one of the world’s
poorest countries, those resources are critical natural assets, vital to the future prosperity and
stability of our nation. They will play a key role in assuring Somalia’s continued development in a
way that benefits our people.
9. Yet, our ability to explore for, let alone exploit, those natural resources has been seriously
hindered by the lack of a defined maritime boundary with Kenya. In the absence of an established
boundary, Somalia has exercised restraint and refrained from activities in the disputed area.
Regrettably, Kenya has not taken the same approach. It seems to consider that the area in dispute
belongs to it. Yesterday, you heard the Honourable Agent for Kenya claim that “Kenya has
1
exercised uncontested jurisdiction in this maritime area since . . . 1979” . Somalia does not agree,
but the statement does reflect Kenya’s misguided attitude. Kenya has, moreover, granted
concessions in the area and exploration activities are already taking place.
10. Kenya’s approach is of great concern to Somalia. The resolution of this case in a manner
that achieves an equitable solution in accordance with the rule of law will allow us and others to
know what is rightfully ours, and realize our full potential.
11. It is for that reason that the issues that are at the heart of this case unite all Somalis.
Whatever other differences may divide us, it is no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the entire
Somali nation are upon us today, and they will remain upon us until this Court renders its ultimate
decision.
CR 2016/10, p. 14, para. 8 (Muigai). - 14 -
12. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, I know the issue that brings us here
today concerns Kenya’s objection to the Court’s jurisdiction, not the merits of the case. But,
speaking on behalf of the Government of Somalia, we think it is important for you to understand
something of our motivation for coming before you, and how the Somali nation has entrusted its
aspirations to you.
13. Yesterday, you heard Ambassador Muchiri suggest that Somalia rushed to the Court
without giving negotiations a chance to succeed. The Honourable Ambassador hinted that the
2
institution of these proceedings was an act of bad faith; she even accused us of “deception” .
14. With great respect to our neighbours Somalia takes great exception to that unfortunate
and erroneous characterization. Appeal to international justice should never be considered an act
of bad faith. On the contrary, the institution of proceedings in this great Court is an act of faith:
faith in Somalia’s capacity to defend its sovereignty and sovereign rights, faith in international
justice, and faith in this Court’s wisdom. That is why we are here today.
15. We seek nothing more and nothing less than to have our maritime boundary dispute with
our Kenyan brothers and sisters be resolved finally and definitely in an equitable manner, in
accordance with the requirements of international law, including the Law of the Sea Convention.
Doing so will serve the interests of peace and stability in the region and it will confirm the central
role of this Court in resolving disputes of this kind.
16. Somalia has not rushed to the Court prematurely. As the evidence Somalia has placed
before you demonstrates, we negotiated in good faith, and with great effort and energy before
initiating those proceedings, but to no avail. I personally had the honour of participating in those
negotiations, over two intense rounds. They were not just “technical level” meetings as you heard
yesterday . Indeed, our respective Foreign Ministers personally presided at the second round.
17. The talks were hard and sometimes heated. The positions taken by the Parties were far
apart and irreconcilable. Kenya insisted that the boundary must follow a parallel of latitude.
Somalia insisted that the jurisprudence of the Court and other international tribunals required a
delimitation based on equidistance. We could not even agree on a method of delimitation, let alone
2CR 2016/10, p. 50, para. 14 (Muchiri).
3CR 2016/10, p. 46, para. 2 (Muchiri). - 15 -
a boundary. Views were exchanged. No movement occurred. Kenya then failed to honour its
commitment to attend a subsequent meeting — a meeting that it insisted on having as a last and
final resort — and did so without prior notice or later explanation. We only learned of its
purported security concerns when it filed its Preliminary Objections in October 2015.
18. Counsel for Kenya asked yesterday why we submitted our Application so promptly after
Kenya failed to attend those meetings. The answer is very simple. As you will hear our counsel
will explain shortly, this third meeting was specifically intended to be a final opportunity, a last try
to bridge our differences. There had been no movement during the prior sessions and Kenya’s
unilateral activities in the disputed area were ongoing. Adding to the sense of urgency was the
knowledge that Kenya could, by its terms, withdraw its Article 36 (2) declaration at any time and
forever prevent us from accessing this great Court.
19. Under the circumstances, Somalia did what any prudent State would do: we considered
our options and prepared for all contingencies. When Kenya failed to turn up for the third and final
round of talks without explanation, we felt we had no alternative but to come before this Court to
protect our rights under international law.
20. Mr. President, Members of the Court, Kenya’s objection to your jurisdiction is, as you
heard yesterday, founded primarily on the argument that the 2009 MOU constitutes an agreement
to have recourse to some other method of dispute settlement within the meaning of Kenya’s
reservation to its Article 36 (2) declaration. Somalia disagrees.
21. In our view, the one — and the only — purpose of the MOU was to assure that there
would be no obstacle to the CLCS’s consideration of our two countries’ submissions concerning
the establishment of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The very title of the
document confirms this. The MOU is entitled “Memorandum of Understanding between the
Government of the Republic of Kenya and the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali
Republic to grant each other no-objection in respect of submissions on the Outer Limits of the
Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental - 16 -
4
Shelf” . There is no indication that the MOU was intended to, or indeed in fact, establish an agreed
method of dispute settlement that could bar this Court’s jurisdiction.
22. As our very able counsel will show you in the course of this morning, at no time, whether
before or after the signing of the MOU did Kenya or Somalia understand the MOU to have the
effect Kenya now seeks to ascribe to it. As I said, we did negotiate, and negotiate hard. The record
shows that we engaged in a substantive and detailed exchange of views. Kenya never once
expressed the view that negotiations were provisional only, and that any agreement, should there be
one, would have to wait until after the CLCS has issued its recommendations. That would have
been illogical and contrary to Kenya’s expressed wish to reach an amicable solution promptly.
23. Mr. President, Members of the Court, in Somalia’s view, Kenya cannot truly believe that
the MOU created a binding commitment to an alternative method of dispute settlement. Rather, it
appears that Kenya is looking for a way to avoid the Court’s exercise of jurisdiction, and thus avoid
a binding judgment upon the Parties. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Kenya lacks confidence
in the merits of its case. The Court has never delimited a boundary on the basis of Kenya’s
approach, and the applicable international law — the 1982 Convention — does not direct it. Nor
do the decisions of other international courts or arbitral tribunals offer support to Kenya’s unlikely
arguments.
24. Perhaps that is why Kenya has now fallen back to an even more unlikely argument: that
UNCLOS itself constitutes an agreement to an alternative method of dispute settlement within the
meaning of its reservation to its Article 36 (2) declaration. This argument, which took up all of one
sentence in Kenya’s written pleading, has now assumed a much greater prominence. As
Professor Sands will show, it can be rejected just as easily.
25. Kenya is represented by able and experienced counsel. It knows that it does not have a
serious case on the merits. But if they can force us back into negotiations, without hope of judicial
recourse, they can refuse to agree unless we give them a large portion of our EEZ and continental
shelf, something no self-respecting Somali Government could ever do. Kenya can use its greater
Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Kenya and the Transitional Federal
Government of the Somali Republic to Grant to Each Other No-Objection in Respect of Submissions on the Outer Limits
of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf,
2599 United Nations, Treaty Series (UNTS) 35 (7 Apr. 2009); MS, Vol. III, Ann. 6. - 17 -
political and economic power to prevent us from accessing the resources to which international law
entitles us.
26. Moreover, continued uncertainty over the course of our maritime boundary does not
benefit anyone. The dispute will remain an unwelcome source of tension between our two
countries at a time when what is needed is more increased co-operation. If we are to have any hope
of a durable and equitable solution that contributes to regional peace and security, it lies here, in
this Great Hall of Justice, and in the hands of the distinguished Members of this Court.
27. Mr. President, Members of the Court, with that I come to the organization of our first
round presentations. Following me to the podium this morning will be Professor Alain Pellet. He
will explain why, as a simple matter of treaty interpretation, the MOU does not constitute an
agreement to settle the Parties’ delimitation dispute by the exclusive means of negotiation only
after the CLCS issues its recommendations.
28. Professor Pellet will be followed by Mr. Paul Reichler who will address the evidence
relevant to Kenya’s preliminary objection. Mr. Reichler will address the circumstances of the
MOU’s conclusion and show that no one, at any time, took the view that the MOU created — or
was intended to create — a dispute settlement mechanism. This includes Norway, which was
instrumental in the drafting and signing of that document. Mr. Reichler will show that the only
purpose of the document was to enable the CLCS to consider both Somalia’s and Kenya’s
submission in respect of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
29. Mr. Reichler will also show that the conduct of the Parties following the execution of the
MOU constitutes further compelling evidence that neither Kenya nor Somalia considered the MOU
to have established a specific or exclusive means of settling the maritime boundary dispute, let
alone one that obligated the Parties to resolve the dispute only by agreement and only after the
CLCS had issued recommendations on their respective submissions.
30. Finally, Professor Philippe Sands will demonstrate that the MOU does not fall within the
scope of Kenya’s reservation to its Optional Clause declaration. He will also show that, even if the
MOU had created an obligation to engage in negotiations — which Somalia emphatically rejects —
any such obligation has been amply fulfilled. He will also show that Kenya’s newly developed - 18 -
argument based on UNCLOS is ill-conceived. On any view, then, there is no bar to this Court’s
jurisdiction.
31. Mr. President, Members of the Court, thank you for your time and courteous attention. I
ask that you now invite Professor Pellet to the podium.
Le PRESIDENT : Je vous remercie, Madame. La parole est à M. le professeur Alain Pellet.
M. PELLET :
L’INTERPRÉTATION CORRECTE DU M O U
1. Merci Monsieur le président. Monsieur le président, Mesdames et Messieurs de la Cour,
tout à l’heure, le professeur Sands montrera que le Memorandum of Understanding le
«MoU» n’entre pas dans les prévisions de la réserve du Kenya à la compétence de la Cour. Cela
suppose de préciser sa signification telle est la tâche que M Reichler et moi nous partageons, en
suivant la voie tracée par les articles 31 et 32 de la convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités : il
m’échet d’établir que l’interprétation du MoU avancée par le Kenya conduit à un résultat
manifestement absurde et déraisonnable lorsqu’on en interprète le texte de bonne foi, dans son
contexte, et à la lumière de son objet et de son but. Ensuite, il maestro montrera que tant la
pratique ultérieurement suivie par les Parties que les travaux préparatoires et les circonstances dans
lesquelles le mémorandum a été conclu confirment entièrement l’interprétation que nous en
faisons.
2. Et je vous prie, Monsieur le président, comme je prie les mânes de Basdevant, de bien
vouloir me pardonner : ce mémorandum, je le désignerai par son sigle anglais MoU car
«Mémorandum de compréhension» ne signifie strictement rien en français et ni «MOU» ni
«M.O.U.» ne sonnent particulièrement bien dans la langue de Racine et de Baudelaire...
3. Toute l’argumentation du Kenya contestant votre compétence pour vous prononcer sur la
requête de la Somalie repose sur le dernier paragraphe du MoU ou, plus exactement sur un
5
membre de phrase de ce paragraphe qu’il isole de son contexte :
5Voir CR 2016/10 (Akhavan, par. 14-22 ; Forteau, par. 11-12). - 19 -
«The delimitation of maritime boundaries in the areas under dispute, including
the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles,» and this is the
phrase: «shall be agreed between the two coastal States on the basis of international
law after the Commission has concluded its examination of the separate submissions
made by each of the two coastal States» . 6
Kenya contends that this paragraph
«sets forth the method of dispute settlement that would follow the CLCS review, and
specifies that it shall apply to the entire maritime boundary, both within and beyond
200 NM» . 7
4. Négligeant la «règle générale d’interprétation» (I.), cette approche originale ne tient
compte ni du contexte de la disposition sur laquelle le Kenya fait fond, ni de l’objet et du but du
MoU (II.), ce qui conduit à un résultat qui est manifestement absurde et déraisonnable (III.).
I. Bref rappel d’évidences méconnues par le Kenya sur la
«règle générale d’interprétation»
5. Monsieur le président, dans sa présentation d’hier matin, Mathias Forteau a résumé en
8
moins de deux minutes les cinq premiers paragraphes du MoU pour se concentrer exclusivement
sur ce paragraphe 6. Quant au professeur Akhavan il a «embrayé» immédiatement sur celui–ci,
sans s’embarrasser le moins du monde des paragraphes précédents . Ce faisant, ils ne tiennent
aucun compte de la «règle générale d’interprétation» énoncée à l’article 31 de la convention de
Vienne de 1969, dont j’ose à peine rappeler qu’il exprime le droit international coutumier . 10
6. Je précise au passage, Monsieur le président, que je me fonde sur cette disposition sans,
pour autant, concéder ni d’ailleurs nier que le MoU soit un traité en vigueur entre les Parties.
Il n’est pas nécessaire de prendre position sur ce point : il suffit d’interpréter cet instrument pour
6 Mémorandum d’accord entre le Gouvernement de la République du Kenya et le Gouvernement fédéral de
transition de la République somalienne, afin d’accorder à chacun non-objection à l’égard des communications à la
Commission des limites du plateau continental sur les limites extérieures du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles
marins, Nairobi (7 avril 2009), Recueil des traités des Nations Unies (RTNU), vol. 2599, I-46230 (mémoire de la Somalie
(MS), vol. III, annexe 6).
7 Exceptions préliminaires du Kenya (EPK), p. 25, par. 53. Voir aussi CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 3-4).
8
CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 3).
9
CR 2016/10 (Akhavan, par. 14-15).
10 Ile de Kasikili/Sedudu (Botswana/Namibie), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1999 (II), p. 1059, par. 18 (citant Différend
territorial (Jamahiriya arabe libyenne/Tchad), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1994, p. 21, par. 41 ; Plates-formes pétrolières
(République islamique d’Iran c. Etats-Unis d’Amérique), exception préliminaire, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (II), p. 812,
par. 23). Voir aussi Sentence arbitrale du 31 juillet 1989 (Guinée-Bissau c. Sénégal), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1991, p. 70,
par. 48 ; Délimitation maritime et questions territoriales entre Qatar et Bahreïn (Qatar c. Bahreïn), compétence et
recevabilité, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1995, p. 18, par. 33 ; Licéité de l’utilisation des armes nucléaires par un Etat dans un
conflit armé, avis consultatif, C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (I), p. 75, par. 19 ; Certaines questions concernant l’entraide judiciaire
en matière pénale (Djibouti c. France), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2008, p. 222, par. 123 ; Différend maritime (Pérou c. Chili),
arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2014, p. 28, par. 57. - 20 -
constater qu’il ne constitue nullement un obstacle à l’exercice de votre compétence ; et il est
reconnu et indiscutable que la règle de l’article 31 de la convention de Vienne s’applique aussi, par
analogie, à des instruments non conventionnels . 11
7. En vertu du premier paragraphe de cette disposition «[u]n traité doit être interprété de
bonne foi suivant le sens ordinaire à attribuer aux termes du traité dans leur contexte et à la lumière
de son objet et de son but». «Conformément à l’article 31 de la convention de Vienne, le «sens
ordinaire» des termes d’un traité ne peut être défini que dans leur contexte et à la lumière de l’objet
12
et du but du traité» . Et c’est cela, Monsieur le président, la règle générale d’interprétation : c’est
une norme globale et complexe dont on ne peut détacher les éléments un par un comme on effeuille
la marguerite une règle tellement bien établie que la Cour n’a pas besoin de s’y attarder
longuement : elle l’applique dans sa globalité sans ressentir le besoin de s’en expliquer . Dans son3
rapport final sur le droit des traités de 1966, la Commission du droit international avait expliqué
qu’
«en mettant le titre de l’article (Règle générale d’interprétation) au singulier, [ ... la
Commission avait] voulu indiquer que l’application des moyens d’interprétation
prévus dans l’article constituait une seule opération complexe. Tous les différents
éléments, tels qu’ils se trouvent présents dans une situation donnée, seraient jetés dans
le creuset et la résultante de leur interaction constituerait l’interprétation juridiquement
pertinente. Ainsi, l’article 27 [qui allait devenir l’article 31] est intitulé la «Règle
générale d’interprétation», au singulier, et non «Règles générales», au pluriel, parce
que la Commission a voulu souligner que le processus d’interprétation constitue un
tout et que les dispositions de l’article forment une seule règle, étroitement intégrée.» 14
8. Cette caractéristique essentielle de l’article 31 et ses conséquences pratiques ont été
excellemment rappelées dans la sentence arbitrale du 12 mars 2004 rendue dans l’affaire de
l’Apurement des comptes entre la France et les Pays–Bas, qui a insisté vigoureusement sur l’unité
11
Voir, par exemple, sentence arbitrale du 22 juillet 2009, in the Matter of an Arbitration before a Tribunal
Constituted in accordance with Article 5 of the Arbitration Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement/Army on Delimiting Abyei Area, par. 572 ; sentence arbitrale partielle du 30 janvier 2007,
Eurotunnel c. Royaume-Uni et France, par. 92 ; Conformité au droit international de la déclaration unilatérale
d’indépendance relative au Kosovo, avis consultatif, C.I.J. Recueil 2010 (II), p. 494, par. 94.
12
Rapport de l’organe d’appel de l’OMC (21 décembre 2009), Chine — Mesures affectant les droits de
commercialisation et les services de distribution pour certaines publications et certains produits de divertissement
audiovisuels, AB-2009-3, par. 348 ; les italiques sont de nous.
13Voir, pour des exemples récents, Différend maritime (Pérou c. Chili), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2014, p. 28, par. 57 ;
ou Chasse à la baleine dans l’Antarctique (Australie c. Japon ; Nouvelle-Zélande (intervenant)), arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 2014, p. 250-251, par. 55.
14 Commission du droit international (CDI), projet d’articles sur le droit des traités, Annuaire de la CDI, 1966,
vol. II, p. 239, paragraphe 8 du commentaire du projet d’article 27 ; les italiques sont de nous. Voir aussi Annuaire de la
CDI, 1966, vol. II, p. 103 (observations du rapporteur). Voir aussi l’exposé écrit de la Somalie (EES), par. 3.12. - 21 -
15
de la règle générale d’interprétation posée à l’article 31 . Telle est aussi la jurisprudence constante
de la Cour, qui a toujours pris grand soin de ne pas détacher les uns des autres les quatre éléments
16
clefs énumérés à l’article 31 : texte, objet et but, contexte, et pratique ultérieure . Comme le disait
déjà la Cour permanente en 1922 : lorsque l’on procède à l’interprétation d’un traité, «il faut
évidemment lire celui-ci dans son ensemble, et l’on ne saurait déterminer sa signification sur la
base de quelques phrases détachées de leur milieu et qui, séparées de leur contexte, peuvent être
17
interprétées de plusieurs manières» . C’est dire aussi que «[l]’interprétation selon la règle
coutumière codifiée à l’article 31 de la convention de Vienne [est] en dernière analyse un exercice
global qui ne devrait pas être mécaniquement scindé en parties rigides» . Or c’est très exactement
ainsi que procède le Kenya.
9. Au lieu de s’interroger sur le sens de la disposition à interpréter, il le postule, pour
décréter ensuite qu’il n’y a rien à interpréter. C’est procéder à l’envers : il faut d’abord interpréter
à la lumière de la règle générale de l’article 31 et ce n’est qu’ensuite que l’on peut déterminer si
le texte est clair ou non. Lorsqu’on se livre de bonne foi à cette opération, on constate que le MoU
est en effet dénué de toute ambiguïté mais qu’il signifie le contraire de ce que nos amis
voudraient lui faire dire... S’il y avait une ambiguïté, il faudrait alors recourir aux moyens
complémentaires de l’article 32. Ici, on peut y recourir, mais non pour dissiper une ambiguïté il
n’y en a pas , mais pour confirmer l’interprétation qui résulte de l’application de la règle
19
générale, globale, complexe de l’article 31 . L’interprétation qu’avance le Kenya s’en
émancipe totalement. Elle ne tient compte ni de l’objet et du but du MoU, ni de son contexte.
15 Affaire concernant l’apurement des comptes entre le Royaume des Pays-Bas et la République Française en
application du Protocole du 25 septembre 1991 additionnel à la Convention relative à la protection du Rhin contre la
pollution par les chlorures du 3 décembre 1976, Recueil des sentences arbitrales (RSA), vol. XXV, p. 295, par. 62 ; les
italiques sont de nous. Voir aussi le paragraphe 64.
16 Voir, par exemple, Différend maritime (Pérou c. Chili), arrêt C.I.J. Recueil 2014, p. 28, par. 57.
17 Compétence de l’OIT pour la réglementation internationale des conditions du travail des personnes employées
dans l’agriculture, avis consultatif, 1922, C.P.J.I. série B n 2, p. 22. Voir aussi, notamment, Composition du Comité de
la sécurité maritime de l’Organisation intergouvernementale consultative de la navigation maritime, avis consultatif,
C.I.J. Recueil 1960, p. 158. Voir également, Sentence arbitrale du 31 juillet 1989 (Guinée-Bissau c. Sénégal), arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 1991, opinion dissidente de M. Weeramantry, p. 133.
18 Rapport de l’organe d’appel de l’OMC (21 décembre 2009), Chine - Mesures affectant les droits de
commercialisation et les services de distribution pour certaines publications et certains produits de divertissement
audiovisuels, AB-2009-3, par. 348.
19 CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 10, 12, 20 ; Akhavan par. 20). - 22 -
II. Le texte du MoU dans son contexte et à la lumière de son objet
et de son but
10. Anzilotti, Monsieur le président, n’avait pas toujours raison ; mais on ne peut que
20
partager, au sujet de l’«évidentialisme kényan» , la perplexité qu’exprimait le grand juge italien au
sujet de l’Interprétation de la convention de 1919 concernant le travail de nuit des femmes,
lorsqu’il se demandait
«comment il est possible de dire qu’un article d’une convention est clair avant d’avoir
déterminé l’objet ou le but de la convention, car c’est seulement dans cette convention
et par rapport à cette convention que l’article assume sa véritable signification. ... La
première question qui se pose est donc celle de savoir quels sont l’objet et le but de la
convention dans laquelle trouve place l’article qu’il s’agit d’interpréter.» 21
Et vous-mêmes, Mesdames et Messieurs les juges, avez souvent et abondamment insisté sur la
nécessité de tenir compte, dans toute interprétation, du but et de l’objet de l’instrument en cause . 22
11. Comme l’a relevé assez récemment la CDI, «[i]l n’est pas facile de synthétiser en une
formule unique l’ensemble des éléments qui doivent être pris en considération pour déterminer,
dans chaque cas concret, l’objet et le but du traité. Cette opération relève sans aucun doute
davantage de l’«esprit de finesse» que de l’«esprit de géométrie» ...» esprit de finesse dont
j’ai le regret de constater que nos amis et contradicteurs manquent fâcheusement lorsqu’il s’agit du
MoU, dont ils s’obstinent à vouloir interpréter «géométriquement» une phrase isolée de son
contexte.
12. Dans cette même étude récente, la CDI a tenté la synthèse suivante :
«L’objet et le but du traité doivent être déterminés de bonne foi, en tenant
compte de ses termes dans leur contexte, en particulier du titre et du préambule du
traité. On peut également avoir recours aux travaux préparatoires du traité et aux
circonstan25s de sa conclusion et, le cas échéant, à la pratique subséquente des
parties.»
20
Voir par exemple, EPK, vol. I, par. 57, 130 ou 133. Voir aussi CR 2016/10, (Akhavan, par. 15 ; Forteau,
par. 2-4, 28).
21
Interpréoation de la convention de 1919 concernant le travail de nuit des femmes, avis consultatif, 1932,
C.P.J.I. série A/B n 50, p. 383 ; les italiques sont de nous.
22 Voir notamment, Application de la convention de 1902 pour régler la tutelle des mineurs (Pays-Bas c. Suède),
arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1958, p. 67-68 ; Plates-formes pétrolières (République islamique d’Iran c. Etats-Unis d’Amérique),
exception préliminaire, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (II), p. 813, par. 27 et p. 815, par. 31 ; Avena et autres ressortissants
mexicains (Mexique c. Etats-Unis d’Amérique), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2004 (I), p. 48, par. 85.
23 Note de bas de page 1630 dans le texte original : «Blaise Pascal, Pensées, dans Œuvres complètes (Paris,
Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, N. R. F. Gallimard 1954), p. 1091».
24 CDI, Guide de la pratique sur les réserves aux traités, Nations Unies, doc. A/66/10/Add.l (2011), paragraphe 1
du commentaire de la directive 3.1.5.1. «Détermination de l’objet et du but du traité», p. 381.
25 Ibid., directive 3.1.5.1. «Détermination de l’objet et du but du traité», p. 382. - 23 -
Ici encore, précise la Commission, «il ne s’agit pas de «décortiquer» le traité, d’examiner ses
dispositions l’une après l’autre, mais bien d’en dégager l’«essence», le «projet» global» . Ceci 26
suppose que l’on se réfère non à quelques mots ou membres de phrase isolés mais, comme la Cour
l’a fait à plusieurs reprises, à la «structure» même de l’instrument interprété telle qu’elle ressort de
27
ses dispositions prises dans leur ensemble .
o
Projection n 1 : Le MoU (titre officiel)
13. Non sans bon sens, la Cour a rappelé que l’objet d’un traité «est celui qui est indiqué
28
dans son titre» . Quel est-il en l’espèce ? «Memorandum of Understanding between the
Government of the Republic of Kenya and the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali
Republic to grant to each other no-objection in respect of submissions on the outer limits on the
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles to the Commission of the limits of the continental
shelf» je répète : «afin d’accorder à chacun non-objection à l’égard des communications à la
Commission des limites du plateau continental (CLPC) sur les limites extérieures du plateau
continental au-delà de 200 milles marins». Tel est, Mesdames et Messieurs les juges, l’objet du
MoU. Il n’est pas d’échapper à la compétence de votre Cour comme le voudrait le Kenya, qui
affirmait dans ses exceptions que «[t]he object and purpose of the 2009 MoU was to agree on a
method for the final settlement of the maritime boundary between Kenya and Somalia, both within
29
and beyond 200 NM» . Comme l’indique clairement son titre, le but du MoU est de permettre à la
CLPC de s’acquitter de sa fonction de délinéation du plateau continental des deux Etats, nonobstant
leur différend en ce qui concerne sa délimitation latérale chacun s’engageant à ne pas objecter
aux communications de l’autre. Et je comprends dans ces conditions que nos amis de l’autre côté
de la barre aient préféré faire «profil bas» sur ce point. Tout juste le professeur Forteau a-t-il fait
26
CDI, Guide de la pratique sur les réserves aux traités, Nations Unies, doc. A/66/10/Add.l (2011),
paragraphe 2) du commentaire de la directive 3.1.5, («Incompatibilité d’une réserve avec l’objet et le but du traité»),
p. 374.
27 Voir, par exemple, Souveraineté sur Pulau Ligitan et Pulau Sipadan (Indonésie/Malaisie), arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 2002, p. 652, par. 51 ; voir aussi Plates-formes pétrolières (République islamique d’Iran c. Etats-Unis
d’Amérique), exception préliminaire, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (II), p. 813, par. 27.
28Certains emprunts norvégiens (France c. Norvège), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1957, p. 24. Voir aussi Plates-formes
pétrolières (République islamique d’Iran c. Etats-Unis d’Amérique), exception préliminaire, arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (II), p. 819, par. 47.
29EPK, p. 21-22, par. 46. - 24 -
une allusion furtive au titre du mémorandum pour ensuite procéder «à l’envers» : «quel que soit
l’objet et le but du traité ou son intitulé, il n’en demeure pas moins que l’accord de 2009 contient
une disposition consacrée à la délimitation...» . Assurément, Monsieur le président ! Mais que
signifie-t-elle cette disposition ? C’est notre problème et il ne peut être résolu que si les termes de
cette disposition sont interprétés «dans leur contexte et à la lumière de» l’objet et du but du traité.
14. Et je remarque en passant que ce long titre délibérément explicite n’a pas été donné au
mémorandum ex post, au moment de son enregistrement par le Kenya, mais a fait l’objet de
discussions entre les représentants des trois Etats impliqués dans son adoption. Proposé à l’origine
par l’ambassadeur norvégien Longva au chef du service juridique du ministère kényan des affaires
étrangères, M. Kihwaga, ce titre a été modifié à la demande expresse de la Somalie qui a souhaité
que soit ajoutée la mention: «to each other» («à chacun») . 31
Fin de la projection n 1 Projection n 2 : Le MoU (par. 3)
15. Compte tenu de la nature indécise du MoU, il est difficile de parler d’un préambule
32
stricto sensu, mais il est patent que les signataires ont été incités à préciser leur «principal souci»
dans un paragraphe, le troisième, qui est tout à fait éclairant et qui contribue très utilement à
33
«clarifier le sens à attribuer à ses termes» (je relève au passage que le Kenya décompte
différemment les paragraphes ce décalage n’a pas d’incidence sur le raisonnement). Ce
paragraphe 3 est projeté à l’écran. Permettez-moi, Monsieur le président, d’en faire une lecture
commentée :
«Les deux Etats côtiers sont conscients que l’établissement des limites extérieures du plateau
continental au-delà de 200 milles marins est sans préjudice [je souligne : «sans préjudice»] de
la question de la délimitation du plateau continental entre des Etats ayant des littoraux
adjacents ou qui se font face». La précaution est utile car, bien que la formule soit reprise tant
par l’article 76, paragraphe 10, de la convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer que
30CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 17 ; les italiques sont dans l’original).
31Voir EPK, vol. II, annexe 14, courriel adressé à M. James Kihwaga par M. Hans Wilhelm Longva et lettre
adressée par le Kenya à la Somalie le 29 janvier 2016.
32
Ile de Kasikili/Sedudu (Botswana/Namibie), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1999 (II), p. 1073, par. 43.
33Ibid., p. 1072. - 25 -
par l’article 9 de son annexe II, l’article 5, alinéa a) de l’annexe I des Règles de procédure de la
CLPC dispose que, «[d]ans le cas où il existe un différend terrestre ou maritime, la
Commission n’examine pas la demande présentée par un Etat Partie à ce différend et ne se
prononce pas sur cette demande» en l’absence d’«accord préalable de tous les Etats Parties à ce
différend».
Je reprends la lecture du MoU : «Bien que les deux Etats côtiers aient des intérêts divergents en
ce qui concerne la délimitation du plateau continental dans la zone en litige, ils ont un sérieux
intérêt commun à établir les limites extérieures du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles
marins, sans préjudice [je souligne à nouveau : «without prejudice»] de la future délimitation
du plateau continental entre les deux Etats». Nous y voilà : tel est l’objet même du MoU :
s’assurer que la délinéation «l’établissement des limites extérieures» du plateau
continental des deux Etats ne soit pas retardée par l’absence de règlement du différend sur la
délimitation. Je note d’ailleurs que les deux Etats sont au moins d’accord sur ce point : le
Kenya écrit dans ses exceptions préliminaires : «It was apparent that an objection by either
Party would waste the considerable costs of gathering and analysing data for the submissions
and create a situation of perpetual limbo.» 34
Et le MoU enfonce le clou : «Sur cette base, les deux Etats côtiers sont déterminés à travailler
ensemble à la sauvegarde et à la promotion de leur intérêt commun en ce qui concerne
l’établissement des limites extérieures du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles marins.»
16. L’élément clef de cette disposition est que les deux problèmes de délimitation du
plateau continental dans la zone en litige d’une part, de délinéation vers le large du plateau
continental auquel chacun des deux Etats a droit d’autre part que ces deux problèmes, disais-je,
sont découplés et que, sauf en ce qui concerne le point d’aboutissement de la frontière maritime, la
solution de l’un n’est pas conditionnée par celle de l’autre. Et le Kenya en convient : «The second
operative paragraph emphasizes that the MoU is without prejudice to the final delimitation of the
maritime boundary…» . Chassez l’interprétation naturelle, elle revient au galop...
34EPK, p. 22, par. 46.
35EPK, p. 23, par. 50, les italiques sont de nous ; voir aussi CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 4). - 26 -
17. Ce paragraphe 3 «est de nature à éclairer l’interprétation des autres dispositions du
36
traité» .
o o
Fin de la projection n 2 Projection n 3 : Le MoU (par. 4)
18. Le paragraphe suivant commence par des développements largement «explicatifs» (par
opposition à «normatifs»). Il y est indiqué que le Gouvernement somalien entend soumettre des
informations préliminaires sur la limite extérieure de son plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles
marins avant la date-butoir du 13 mai 2009, y compris sur la zone en litige. Ainsi se trouve
réaffirmé, par la Somalie, le but du MoU étant entendu que cette communication
«n’influera pas sur les positions des deux Etats côtiers en ce qui concerne le différend
qui les oppose et sera sans préjudice de la future délimitation des frontières maritimes
dans la zone en litige, y compris la délimitation du plateau continental au-delà
de 200 milles marins».
Deux remarques textuelles sur cette sorte d’exposé des motifs de ce qui suit, Monsieur le
président :
1) Sur l’expression «y compris» (including) : le professeur Akhavan en déduit que la portée du
MoU «n’est clairement pas limitée au plateau continental étendu comme le prétend la
Somalie» . Assurément : cela veut dire en effet que les deux Etats ne pourront déterminer le
point d’aboutissement de leur frontière commune «y compris au-delà de 200 milles marins»
qu’une fois reçues les recommandations de la CLPC.
2) Nos contradicteurs font grand cas du pluriel dans les expressions «frontières maritimes» et
«zones en litige» . Je ne suis pas sûr que ceci ait une très grande importance : c’est une façon
de parler fort habituelle et l’on utilise couramment en la matière, de façon interchangeable le
pluriel et le singulier. D’ailleurs, s’agissant de l’expression «zones en litige», elle n’est utilisée
au pluriel que deux fois dans tout le MoU ; elle est au singulier dans le paragraphe 2 qui la
décrit comme étant «une zone de chevauchement du plateau continental» ; même chose dans le
paragraphe suivant et au début du paragraphe 4, celui actuellement projeté ; et puis le singulier
36 Affaire relative aux Plates-formes pétrolières (République islamique d’Iran c. Etats-Unis d’Amérique),
exception préliminaire, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1996 (II), p. 815, par. 31 ; voir aussi, Certaines questions concernant
l’entraide judiciaire en matière pénale (Djibouti c. France), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2008, p. 218, par. 109.
37
CR 2016/10 (Akhavan, par. 16).
38
CR 2016/10 (Akhavan, par. 16 ; Forteau, par. 4, 18, 20). - 27 -
se meut au pluriel à la fin de ce même paragraphe ; et on revient au singulier dans tout le
paragraphe suivant avant de repasser au pluriel dans le texte anglais du paragraphe 6 (le seul qui
fait foi, il est vrai mais les traducteurs français, peut-être plus cartésiens, s’en sont tenus,
eux, au singulier !). Que déduire de tout ceci, Monsieur le président ? D’abord sûrement que
ce mémorandum, rédigé en toute hâte, l’a sans doute été moins «précisément et
39
méticuleusement» que nos contradicteurs voudraient le faire croire . Ensuite, que, n’en
déplaise à Mathias Forteau, on ne peut pas déduire grand-chose du «double pluriel» dont il fait
si grand cas.
19. Et je reprends ma lecture : on en arrive, à la fin du paragraphe 4, à l’énoncé de l’une des
clauses de fond qui, elle, n’intéresse que la Somalie : «Sur la base de cet accord, la République
du Kenya ne voit aucune objection à faire figurer les zones en litige dans la communication par la
République somalienne des informations préliminaires indiquant les limites extérieures du plateau
continental au-delà de 200 milles marins.»
Fin de la projection no 3 -- Projection n 4 : Le MoU (par. 5)
20. Le paragraphe suivant est synallagmatique et constitue le cœur du MoU. Il y est convenu
que, «à un moment approprié, ... chacun d’eux soumettra séparément une communication» à la
CLPC ; que cette communication, qui pourra comprendre la zone en litige, demandera à la
Commission «de formuler des recommandations à l’égard des limites extérieures du plateau
continental au-delà de 200 milles marins, sans tenir compte des frontières maritimes qui les
séparent» «sans tenir compte de...» [«without regard to...»] décidément les deux exercices
sont distincts. Ensuite vient la phrase clef à laquelle renvoie le titre du MoU :
«Les deux Etats côtiers donnent par la présente leur consentement préalable à
l’examen par la Commission de ces communications portant sur la zone en litige. Les
communications formulées devant la Commission et les recommandations approuvées
par cette dernière à cet égard n’influenceront pas la position adoptée par les deux Etats
côtiers concernant le différend maritime qui les oppose et seront sans préjudice de la
future délimitation des frontières maritimes dans la zone en litige, y compris la
délimitation du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles marins.»
Toujours la même chose : deux opérations distinctes, non conditionnées l’une par l’autre : la
délinéation par la CLPC peut se faire sans préjudice de la délimitation latérale et vice-versa.
39Voir CR 2016/10 (Akhavan, par. 16). Voir aussi, ibid. (Forteau, par. 20). - 28 -
Fin de la projection n 4 Projection n 5 : Le MoU (par. 6)
21. Et c’est alors, mais alors seulement, que l’on en arrive au paragraphe 6, le seul que le
Kenya daigne lire, la disposition pour laquelle il a les yeux de Chimène . Il faut la lire, bien sûr,
mais dans son contexte et à la lumière de son objet et de son but :
«La délimitation des frontières maritimes dans la zone en litige, y compris la
délimitation du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles marins, fera l’objet d’un
accord entre les deux Etats côtiers sur la base du droit international après que la
Commission aura achevé l’examen des communications séparées effectuées par
chacun des deux Etats côtiers et formulé ses recommandations aux deux Etats côtiers
concernant l’établissement des limites extérieures du plateau continental au-delà
de 200 milles marins.»
o o
Fin de la projection n 5 Projection n 6 : Le paragraphe 6 du MoU revu et corrigé par le
Kenya
22. Et voici maintenant la «traduction» qu’en donne le Kenya au paragraphe 47 de ses
exceptions préliminaires :
«The Parties … agreed that following CLCS review, after which the outer limits
of the continental shelf could be definitively established, the method of settlement for
delimitation of the full extent of the maritime boundary would be a negotiated
agreement rather than recourse to any compulsory procedures.» 41
Interprétation, trahison !
23. Bien entendu, le paragraphe 6 ne dit nullement ceci ! Il dit ... ce qu’il dit. A savoir que
la délimitation complète des frontières maritimes entre les deux Etats se fera par accord après que
la CLPC aura formulé ses recommandations. Ah, je sais, Monsieur le président, j’ai ajouté un
mot : l’adjectif «complète» après «délimitation» et, horresco referens, il n’est pas dans le texte. Il
n’y est pas, mais il y est nécessairement impliqué ; l’y insérer n’ajoute rien à la signification
inévitable du texte, mais il en facilite la compréhension compte tenu du contexte de cette
disposition et de l’objet et du but du MoU dans son ensemble. Et d’ailleurs, ce n’est pas moi qui
l’ajoute, c’est le Kenya lui-même : un accord devrait permettre d’arrêter la délimitation complète
de la délimitation maritime «the method of settlement for delimitation of the full extent of the
maritime boundary». Et hier, à plusieurs reprises, le Kenya a reconnu que c’est bien de finalisation
42
qu’il s’agit : le MoU n’empêche nullement les Parties de négocier un accord (et cela implique
40Voir Pierre Corneille, Le Cid.
41
EPK, p. 22, par. 46 ; voir aussi p. 60, par. 133.
42
CR 2016/10 (agent, par. 10 ; Akhavan, par. 18 ; Forteau, par. 18 ; Lowe, par. 15 et 19). - 29 -
qu’elles peuvent le conclure !) ; en revanche, celui-ci ne peut être finalisé («finalized»,
«completed») par la fixation de son point terminal qu’une fois acquises les recommandations de la
Commission.
24. Et cela est fort sensé, Monsieur le président ! Il relève en effet de l’évidence que le
dernier segment de la frontière maritime ne peut être établi d’une manière définitive, complète,
«full», que lorsque la CLPC aura déterminé que les deux Etats ont effectivement un titre maritime
au-delà de 200 milles marins. En l’absence de titres qui se chevauchent, la délimitation du plateau
continental au-delà de cette limite n’est pas nécessaire (ou elle devient caduque, si elle a été
établie). De ce point de vue, il n’y a pas de désaccord entre les Parties qui reconnaissent, l’une et
l’autre, que les deux Etats ont bel et bien des droits au-delà de 200 milles marins et que leurs titres
leurs «entitlements» se chevauchent. Par ailleurs, il n’est pas douteux que le point
d’aboutissement de la délimitation entre les Parties dépend des recommandations de la CLPC.
Mais ceci ne signifie pas que les Parties ne peuvent pas décider par accord l’orientation de la ligne
de délimitation avant que la Commission se soit prononcée, ni que la Cour (ou un tribunal arbitral)
doive attendre les recommandations de la Commission pour établir une telle délimitation.
Simplement, à la différence de ce qui se produit pour les autres espaces maritimes, la délimitation
du plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles marins ne devient définitive et n’autorise les Etats
à y exercer leurs droits souverains que lorsque la CLPC s’est prononcée sur leurs titres.
Fin de la projection n 6 Projection n° 7 : Accord entre le Kenya et la Tanzanie sur la
délimitation de leur frontière maritime (23 juin 2009 art. 2)
25. J’en veux pour preuve la pratique de nombreux Etats qui ont conclu des accords de
délimitation fixant la limite de leur plateau continental étendu avant que la Commission ait adopté
ses recommandations . Et d’ailleurs, le Kenya lui-même n’a-t-il pas signé, le 23 juin 2009 (soit
43
Treaty between Australia and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea concerning sovereignty and
maritime boundaries in the area between the two countries, including the area known as Torres Strait, and related matters,
18 December 1978; Agreement on Marine Delimitation between the Government of Australia and the Government of the
French Republic, New Caledonia, Chesterfield Islands, 4 January 1982; Treaty between the Government of Australia and
the Government of the Republic of Indonesia establishing an exclusive economic zone boundary and certain seabed
boundaries, 14 March 1997; Treaty between the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Republic of Venezuela on the
delimitation of marine and submarine areas, 18 April 1990; Treaty between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of the United Mexican States on the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in the Western
Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 Nautical Miles, 9 June 2000. Voir aussi Bjarni Már Magnússon, The Continental Shelf
Beyond 200 Nautical Miles: Delineation, Delimitation and Dispute Settlement, Hotei Publishing 2015, p. 209-210. - 30 -
deux mois après la conclusion du MoU), un accord avec la Tanzanie, qui délimite la zone
économique exclusive et le plateau continental entre les deux Etats, y inclus au-delà de 200 milles
marins ? L’article 2 de cet accord prévoit que «the Parties agree that the boundary line extends
eastwards to a point where it intersects the outermost limits of the continental shelf and such other
44
outermost limits of national jurisdiction as may be determined by international law» .
o
Fin de la projection n 7
26. Cela confirme, si besoin était, que la délimitation n’est nullement dépendante de la
45
délinéation comme le soutenait le Kenya dans ses exceptions préliminaires et comme il a continué
de le soutenir hier mais, m’a-t-il semblé, avec un peu moins de conviction. Car, quoiqu’en ait dit
46 47
Mathias Forteau , la jurisprudence est maintenant logiquement et fermement établie . Et,
contrairement à ce qu’a laissé entendre mon excellentissime ami, je ne pense pas que l’arrêt de
votre haute juridiction du 17 mars 2016, qui va dans le même sens, constitue un revirement de
jurisprudence ; vous avez simplement saisi la première occasion qui se présentait à vous pour
préciser que :
«La procédure devant la Commission vise la délinéation de la limite extérieure
du plateau continental, et, par conséquent, la détermination de l’étendue des fonds
marins qui relèvent des juridictions nationales. Elle est distincte de la délimitation du
plateau continental, régie par l’article 83 de la CNUDM, qui est effectuée par voie
d’accord entre les Etats concernés ou par le recours aux procédures de règlement des
différends.» 48
Projection n° 8 : Le paragraphe 6 du MoU revu et corrigé par le Kenya
27. Ceci dit, Monsieur le président, ce qui n’est assurément pas dans le texte c’est la
précision que donne le Kenya selon laquelle les Parties se seraient engagées à procéder «par la voie
44
Agreement between the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Kenya on the delimitation of the
maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, 2603 U.N.T.S. 37, 23 June 2009, entered
into force 23 June 2009 (MS, vol. III, annexe 7).
45
Voir EPK, vol. I, p. 16, par. 31 ; p. 22, par. 47 ; ou p. 66, par. 146.
46CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 22).
47 Voir Tribunal international du droit de la mer (TIDM), Différend relatif à la délimitation de la frontière
maritime entre le Bangladesh et le Myanmar dans le golfe du Bengale (Bangladesh/Myanmar), arrêt du 14 mars 2012,
par. 376 ; et Arbitrage entre le Bangladesh et l’Inde concernant la délimitation de la frontière maritime du golfe du
Bengale, sentence arbitrale du 7 juillet 2014, par. 456.
48 Question de la délimitation du plateau continental entre le Nicaragua et la Colombie au-delà de 200 milles
marins de la côte nicaraguayenne (Nicaragua c. Colombie), C.I.J., arrêt du 17 mars 2016, par. 112. - 31 -
de négociations, et non en ayant recours à une procédure contraignante» («rather than recourse to
any compulsory procedures»). Ce n’est plus de l’interprétation, Monsieur le président, c’est de
l’invention, c’est de la broderie ! Le texte ne dit rien de tel ; le contexte ne conduit nullement à
penser que ce soit le cas ; et ceci n’a aucun rapport avec le but poursuivi par les représentants des
deux Etats lorsqu’ils ont signé le MoU but qui était d’obtenir que la CLPC établisse les limites
extérieures de leur plateau continental au-delà de 200 milles. Et ce n’est en effet qu’une fois cette
délinéation acquise que la Somalie et le Kenya pourront conclure un accord délimitant
complètement leur frontière maritime (delimiting the full extent of the maritime boundary).
28. Et il n’est, bien sûr, pas davantage exact que cet engagement de procéder par voie
d’accord à la délimitation complète de leur frontière maritime commune lorsque seront connues les
recommandations de la CLPC
exclue qu’un tel accord puisse intervenir avant les recommandations de la CLPC : «après»
(after) ne signifie pas «exclusivement après» et rien n’empêche les Parties de se mettre
d’accord ex ante sous réserve d’un éventuel ajustement ex post au cas où il résulterait des
recommandations de la Commission que leur accord empiète sur la Zone internationale ici
encore le professeur Forteau se laisse aller au wishful thinking : «l’accord de 2009», nous dit-il,
«précise par ailleurs que cette délimitation devrait faire l’objet d’un accord seulement après que
la Commission des limites du plateau continental aura achevé l’examen des communications de
chacun des deux Etats et après qu’elle aura formulé ses recommandations» . Eh bien non !
«seulement» est une pure invention, qui n’est conforme ni à la lettre ni à l’esprit du texte ;
le MoU n’exclut pas davantage qu’un accord partiel sur la partie du plateau continental dont la
détermination ne dépend pas de la CLPC ne puisse pas être conclu ;
ni que des négociations en vue d’un accord global puissent être menées, quitte à réserver la
détermination du point d’aboutissement de la frontière à l’après-recommandations de la
CLPC ;
pas plus que ceci n’empêche les Parties de recourir à un règlement judiciaire ou arbitral si elles
ne peuvent se mettre d’accord.
49CR 2016/10 (Forteau, par. 4 ; voir aussi ibid., par. 6) (italiques ajoutées). - 32 -
III. L’interprétation kényane conduit à un résultat absurde et déraisonnable
29. Monsieur le président, Mesdames et Messieurs de la Cour, non seulement l’interprétation
du MoU défendue par le Kenya fait fi de la règle générale d’interprétation, mais encore elle conduit
à un résultat manifestement absurde et déraisonnable.
30. L’interprétation soutenue par le Kenya a plusieurs effets pratiques particulièrement
pervers mais qui, au fond, se ramènent à un seul : il serait extraordinaire, pour ne pas dire
extravagant, que deux Etats pauvres, pour lesquels l’exploitation de leurs ressources halieutiques
et, possiblement, pétrolières, se soient entendus pour remettre aux calendes le règlement de leur
différend frontalier dont le MoU reconnaît l’existence tout en s’efforçant d’en hâter
l’aboutissement. Au bénéfice de cette remarque générale, quatre points méritent, je pense,
quelques brefs développements.
31. Premièrement, s’il fallait en croire le Kenya, les deux Etats côtiers auraient conclu un
accord établissant une méthode de règlement des différends inaccessible aux Parties pendant de très
nombreuses années . Car il ne faut pas se méprendre : très malheureusement, les prédictions du
professeur Akhavan sur la perspective de voir la CLPC se prononcer sur la demande somalienne
dans un futur proche sont démesurément optimistes. D’abord, parce qu’il est hors de question que
la Commission permette aux Etats de «resquiller» (to jump the queue). L’article 51.4 ter) de son
règlement intérieur ne laisse aucun doute : «Les demandes prennent place dans l’ordre où elles sont
reçues.» Or s’il est concevable quoique improbable que la plénière de la CLPC examine la
51
demande kényane l’an prochain, grâce au retrait de l’objection somalienne , celle de la Somalie se
trouve au 74 rang et, au rythme actuel, d’environ trois recommandations par an, sachant que
53 demandes ont la priorité sur celle de la Somalie, cela nous conduit vers l’année 2033. Je me
permets, Mesdames et Messieurs les juges, de vous renvoyer à l’onglet n 3 de votre dossier qui fait
52
le point sur l’état d’avancement des travaux de la Commission au 8 juillet de cette année . Et
50Voir EES, vol. I, par. 1.21 et 1.23.
51
Letter from H.E. Abdulsalam H. Omer, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion of the Federal
Republic of Somalia, to H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, 7 July 2015, MS, vol. III,
Annex 52.
52Submissions, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to the Commission on the Limits of the
Continental Shelf, pursuant to article 76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of
10 December 1982 (http://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/commission_submissions.htm). - 33 -
l’optimisme de l’adroit avocat du Kenya est démenti par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies
qui, cette année encore, a pris «note avec préoccupation du calendrier proposé pour les travaux de
la Commission consacrés aux demandes reçues» . Est-il raisonnable d’interpréter le MoU comme
excluant tout accord de délimitation tant en deçà qu’au-delà de 200 milles, jusqu’à 2033, privant
ainsi ces deux pays, qui aspirent à un développement économique rapide, de la possibilité
d’exploiter les ressources de l’importante zone en litige ? NON, Monsieur le président !
32. Deuxièmement, si le Kenya avait raison et si le paragraphe 6 du mémorandum excluait
«d’avoir recours à un autre mode ou à d’autres modes de règlement», il s’ensuivrait que les termes
équivalents des articles 74 et 83 de la CNUDM (ou de tout autre instrument prévoyant une
délimitation par accord) devraient être interprétés comme excluant également tout recours à un juge
ou un arbitre pour le règlement du différend de délimitation. Cette interprétation est tellement
absurde qu’à ma connaissance aucun Etat (ni même aucun auteur, c’est tout dire !) ne l’a avancée
jusqu’ici. Pourrait-elle être retenue par la Cour ? NON, Monsieur le président !
33. Troisièmement, une autre raison, tout à fait décisive, qui traduit le caractère
déraisonnable de l’interprétation kényane tient à ce qu’elle exclut la possibilité pour la Cour (ou
tout autre organe de règlement obligatoire des différends) de trancher un litige relatif à une
délimitation maritime tant que la CLPC ne s’est pas prononcée sur la délinéation du plateau
continental. Voilà, Mesdames et Messieurs les juges, qui risque de tarir sérieusement l’une des
principales sources de litiges inscrits à votre rôle... Indépendamment de cette considération qui
a son importance !, je vois mal comment nos amis de l’autre côté de la barre concilient cette
position avec la jurisprudence que j’ai citée il y a un instant et avec leur reconnaissance (et la
reconnaissance expresse par le MoU) que la délinéation est sans préjudice de la délimitation :
l’interprétation du Kenya introduit des contradictions irréconciliables dans l’instrument interprété . 54
Peut-on admettre que le MoU, qui indique expressément qu’il est conclu «sans préjudice de la
question de la délimitation du plateau continental», ait imposé aux Etats signataires de se plier à
53Les océans et le droit de la mer (23 septembre 2015), A/RES/70/235.
54
Voir, par exemple, Temple de Préah Vihéar (Cambodge c. Thaïlande), exceptions préliminaires, arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 1961, p. 32-34 ; voir aussi Composition du Comité de la sécurité maritime de l’Organisation
intergouvernementale consultative de la navigation maritime, avis consultatif, C.I.J. Recueil 1960, p. 166. - 34 -
des procédures inutiles à seule fin de retarder ou d’entraver le règlement de leur différend sur la
délimitation ? NON, Monsieur le président !
34. Quatrièmement, hier, il m’a semblé que le Kenya en avait encore rajouté dans l’absurde
en affirmant que la disposition contestée : «does not mean that the parties cannot negotiate prior to
CLCS review. That would be absurd. The parties may negotiate prior to the CLCS
recommendations: but they may finalize an agreement only after delineation of the outer limits of
the shelf.»55 Nous n’avons pas, Monsieur le président, la même conception de l’absurdité : ce qui
est absurde, c’est, je pense, que les Parties auraient conclu un accord leur interdisant de conclure un
accord. L’idée d’un pactum de negociando sous réserve de ne pas conclure est totalement
excentrique ! Peut-on l’envisager ? NON, Monsieur le président !
35. Monsieur le président, Mesdames et Messieurs de la Cour, l’interprétation que nos
contradicteurs veulent vous convaincre de retenir est déraisonnable et aurait des conséquences
absurdes. Si vous l’envisagiez comme ayant un semblant de vraisemblance, il vous appartiendrait
de faire appel aux «moyens complémentaires» d’interprétation pour déterminer la portée véritable
du paragraphe 6 du MoU. Mais, en l’espèce, vous n’êtes aucunement réduits à une telle extrémité :
comme je crois l’avoir montré, un raisonnement simple, fondé sur la «règle générale
d’interprétation» de l’article 31, permet d’arriver à un résultat logique et parfaitement sensé.
36. Néanmoins, comme l’article 32 l’envisage également et comme la Cour l’a souvent
admis, tant avant qu’après la conclusion de la convention de Vienne, même lorsque le texte est
clair et l’interprétation que l’on peut en donner objective, il est possible de rechercher dans les
travaux préparatoires et dans les circonstances dans lesquelles le traité a été conclu «une
55CR 2016/10, par. 18 (Akhavan).
56
Compétence de l’Assemblée générale pour l’admission d’un Etat aux Nations Unies, avis consultatif,
C.I.J. Recueil 1950, p. 8 ; Droits des ressortissants des Etats-Unis d’Amérique au Maroc (France c. Etats-Unis
d’Amérique), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1952, p. 209 ; Incident aérien du 27 juillet 1955 (Israël c. Bulgarie), arrêt,
C.I.J. Recueil 1959, p. 139-140. - 35 -
confirmation éventuelle de l’interprétation» tirée du texte . 57 C’est à quoi M Reichler va
s’employer, ex abundanti cautela, dans un instant.
37. Avant de vous demander, Monsieur le président, de bien vouloir lui donner la parole,
permettez-moi, je vous prie, une dernière remarque de portée plus vaste. Je dois dire que, en règle
générale, l’attitude de la Partie kényane dans cette affaire me laisse pour le moins perplexe. Voilà
un pays, en développement, légitimement pressé de se développer, qui a, je crois comprendre, de
bonnes relations avec son voisin, lui aussi démuni et désireux de faire le meilleur usage de ses
ressources naturelles. Et pourtant, le Kenya semble s’ingénier à faire traîner les choses et à
empêcher que le différend sur leur frontière commune qui oppose les deux pays et qui handicape
lourdement leur développement soit réglé rapidement. Son interprétation du MoU en témoigne. Il
en va de même des exceptions préliminaires artificielles et stériles qu’il a soulevées. J’avoue,
Monsieur le président, que quelque chose m’échappe.
38. Merci, Mesdames et Messieurs les juges, pour votre très aimable attention. Et merci,
Monsieur le président, de bien vouloir appeler M Reichler à cette barre maintenant ou après la
pause.
Le PRESIDENT : Merci, Monsieur le professeur. C’est le moment adéquat pour faire une
pause de quinze minutes après laquelle je donnerai la parole à M. Reichler. La séance est
suspendue.
L’audience est suspendue de 11 h 10 à 11 h 25.
Le PRESIDENT : Veuillez vous asseoir. La parole est à M. Paul Reichler.
57 Délimitation maritime et questions territoriales entre Qatar et Bahreïn (Qatar c. Bahreïn), compétence et
recevabilité, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1995, p. 21, par. 40 ; voir aussi Ambatielos (Grèce c. Royaume-Uni), exception
préliminaire, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1952, p. 45 ; Actions armées frontalières et transfrontalières (Nicaragua c. Honduras),
compétence et recevabilité, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1988, p. 85 et suiv. et p. 89 ; Certaines terres à phosphates à Nauru
(Nauru c. Australie),exceptions préliminaires, arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1992,p. 247 ; Ile de Kasikili/Sedudu
(Botswana/Namibie), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 1999 (II), p. 1074-1075, par. 46 ; Souveraineté sur Pulau Ligitan et Pulau
Sipadan (Indonésie/Malaisie), arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2002, p. 653, par. 53 ; Application de la convention internationale sur
l’élimination de toutes les formes de discrimination raciale (Géorgie c. Fédération de Russie), exceptions préliminaires,
arrêt, C.I.J. Recueil 2011 (I), p. 128, par. 142. - 36 -
Mr. REICHLER:
T HE EVIDENCE PERTAINING TO THE P ARTIES ’UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOU
I. Introduction
1. Mr. President, distinguished Members of the Court, it is, as always, an honour for me to
appear before you. Today I am privileged today to speak on behalf of the Federal Republic of
Somalia.
2. Professor Pellet has meticulously taken you through the text of the MOU. He has shown
you, based on well-established principles of treaty interpretation, that the MOU is not an agreement
on a means for settlement of the Parties’ maritime boundary dispute. Nor does it prevent the
Parties from seeking to have that dispute resolved by this Court.
3. My role today will probably not come as a surprise to you. As is often my fate, I am
tasked — once again — with analysing the evidence that is before you. I make no complaint about
that. I know my place. And, especially in this case, I am content with it, because the evidence of
what the Parties intended when they executed the MOU, and how they understood it, as reflected in
their practice, is an important part of the case. It can be of great assistance to the Court in
determining the proper interpretation to be given to the MOU.
4. We say: the evidence fully supports Somalia’s interpretation of the MOU, which is the
one Professor Pellet has just given you. We do not invoke the evidence, in regard to the object and
purpose of the MOU, or the context in which it came about, in opposition to a proper reading of the
text. We invoke it to confirm our reading of the text. That evidence falls into two categories, in
relation to two different time periods: first, the evidence of the Parties’ intentions at the time the
MOU was signed in April 2009; second, the evidence of how they understood and interpreted the
MOU subsequent to its execution, from then until this case was commenced in August 2014.
II. The evidence of the Parties’ intentions at the time of signing the MOU
5. I begin with the evidence of the Parties’ intentions at the time they signed the MOU. An
important fact is that the MOU was neither conceived nor drafted by Kenya or Somalia. As - 37 -
counsel for Kenya acknowledged yesterday, both the idea and the text came from Norway. The
context helps explain what was intended.
6. In early 2009, time was running out for coastal States to submit their outer continental
shelf claims to the CLCS. Some States lacked the technical expertise to prepare these highly
complex submissions. If they missed the deadline, their potential rights beyond 200 nautical miles
might be lost forever. This was a particular concern in Africa. To address this situation, the
General Assembly called upon United Nations Member States “to assist . . . coastal African
States . . . in the preparation of submissions to the Commission regarding the outer limits of the
continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles” . 58
7. Norway, to its credit, answered the call. It did so in several ways. First, it provided
technical assistance to a number of coastal States in East and West Africa to help them prepare
59
timely submissions to the CLCS . Second, because the Commission’s rules of procedure permits
States to block consideration of their neighbours’ submissions merely by asserting the existence of
a dispute, Norway facilitated and drafted agreements between and among neighbouring States
committing them to refrain from objecting to CLCS review of each other’s submissions . This 60
was to allow the CLCS to issue recommendations on the outer limits of the continental shelf, with
the understanding that these would be without prejudice to any boundary delimitation disputes.
8. In West Africa, for example, Norway provided technical assistance to ECOWAS members
in respect of their CLCS submissions, and also drafted and facilitated an agreement among them
not to object to each other’s submissions . 61 As a consequence, even though Ghana and
Côte d’Ivoire are now in litigation before a Special Chamber of ITLOS over their disputed
maritime boundary, both have complied with the non-objection agreement drafted by Norway and
refrained from objecting to each other’s submissions to the CLCS.
5Federal Republic of Somalia, Preliminary Information Indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf and
Description of the status of preparation of making a submission To the Commission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf for Somalia (14 Apr. 2009), p. 4; Memorial of Somalia (MS), Vol. III, Ann. 66.
5Preliminary Objections of Kenya (POK), para. 30.
60
Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva, Prepared Remarks at Pan African Conference on Maritime Boundary
Delimitation and the Continental Shelf, Accra (9–10 Nov. 2009), pp. 113-115; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 25.
6Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva, Prepared Remarks at Pan African Conference on Maritime Boundary
Delimitation and the Continental Shelf, Accra (9–10 Nov. 2009), p. 114; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 25. - 38 -
9. Norway played a similar role in East Africa. It signed on to provide technical assistance
to Somalia, which needed its help. The deadline for the submission of its preliminary information
to the CLCS was May 2009. Somalia, at the time, had no capacity to prepare its own submission.
The Transitional Federal Government was newly functioning. Its Herculean task was to create a
viable State, following from the collapse of governmental authority, two decades of chaos and civil
war, and a militant insurgency which then controlled much of the country. Because of Norway’s
invaluable assistance, Somalia was able to submit its preliminary information in a timely manner.
10. As it did in West Africa, Norway also sought to avoid objections from neighbouring
States that would preclude the CLCS from considering Somalia’s submission. That was the reason
Norway proposed the MOU. Like the non-objection agreement Norway brokered among the
members of ECOWAS, Norway offered the MOU as a non-objection agreement between Somalia
and Kenya, so that the CLCS could review both States’ submissions without objection from either
one, notwithstanding their disputed maritime boundary. Norway had no interest in the boundary
dispute itself. Its only concern was securing the non-objection of the Parties so that their
submissions could be properly reviewed by the CLCS.
11. Kenya acknowledges that Norway, through its Ambassadeur en Mission Spéciale, the
late Hans Wilhelm Longva, drafted the MOU and presented it to the Parties.
12. Contemporaneous documentation shows that Ambassador Longva first presented a
“Draft Memorandum of Understanding” to the Somali Deputy Prime Minister on 10 March 2009,
after previously discussing it with the Chairperson of Kenya’s Task Force on the Delineation of
Kenya’s Outer Continental Shelf . Both Parties have appended to their written pleadings copies of
the correspondence between Ambassador Longva and Kenya, on the one hand, and between him
63
and Somalia on the other, in regard to the MOU and its text . Significantly, there is not a single
reference, in any of the contemporaneous correspondence, to settlement of the maritime boundary
dispute, or to the establishment of a method for resolving that dispute.
6E-mail from Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva to Ms Juster Nkoroi (Mar. 2009); POK, Vol. II, Ann. 6.
63
See E-mail exchange between Ms Edith K. Ngungu and Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva (30 Mar. 2009), p. 44;
POK, Vol. II, Ann. 9; E-mail exchange between Ms Edith K. Ngungu and Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva
(30-31 Mar. 2009), p.47; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 10; E-mail from Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva to Mr. James Kihwaga
(undated), p. 58; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 14; E-mail from Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva to Hon. Prof. Abdirahman Haji Adan
Ibbi (3 Apr. 2009), p. 1; Written Statement of Somalia (WSS), Vol. II, Ann. 20. - 39 -
13. Somalia proposed one change to Ambassador Longva’s draft, and that was to the title.
At Somalia’s request, the words “to each other” were inserted, so that the text read that Kenya and
Somalia “grant to each other No Objection in respect of submissions on the Outer Limits of the
64
Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Nautical Miles” . As Professor Pellet explained, both the original
title and the final one reflect, and are in keeping with, the central object and purpose of the
instrument: to secure the non-objection of each State to the CLCS submission of the other.
14. The record shows that this is how the drafter of the MOU Norway and the two
States that would be party to it, Somalia and Kenya, understood the object and purpose of the
agreement. Ambassador Longva and Norway, in fact, took pains to distance themselves from, and
avoid involvement in, settlement of the boundary dispute, and to separate that dispute as far as
possible from the Parties’ submissions to the CLCS. At tab 5, and on your screens, is an interview
with Ambassador Longva, published in 2009. There, underneath his cheerful countenance, is his
statement that, following his return to the Legal Department of the Foreign Ministry in 2008: “I am
now responsible for a project relating to assistance to African coastal States in the establishment of
the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which
the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.” 65 He says nothing about having any responsibility
for delimitation of boundaries, dispute settlement, areas up to 200 miles, or the exclusion of
recourse to international adjudication.
15. At tab 6, and on your screens, are further remarks by Ambassador Longva, given in
November 2009, this time in an intervention to the Pan African Conference on Maritime Boundary
Delimitation and the Continental Shelf. They shed further light on his and Norway’s intentions:
“I want to stress from the outset that the establishment of the outer limits of the
continental shelf is a different and separate issue from the delimitation of the
continental shelf with opposite or adjacent coasts. The establishment of the outer
limits of the continental shelf is without prejudice to, i.e., it does not affect, matters
relating to the delimitation of the continental shelf between States. Consequently, it is
not necessary to solve issues of maritime delimitation between neighbouring States
before embarking on the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf.” 66
64
“Interview with Ambassador Hans Wilhelm Longva”, GRID-Arendal (14 Oct. 2013), available at
http://www.grida.no/marine/news.aspx?id=5828.
6Ibid.
66
POK, Ann. 25, p. 1. - 40 -
Neither Ambassador Longva, nor Norway, set about to solve the issues of maritime delimitation
between Kenya and Somalia. Their only concern was in preventing that dispute from interfering
with CLCS review of the Parties’ continental shelf submissions.
16. Norway provided its understanding of the object and purpose of the MOU between
Kenya and Somalia in a Note Verbale to the Secretary-General dated 17 August 2011; you will
find this at tab 7, on page 4, and on your screens:
“In the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the Parties agree that at an
appropriate time each of them will make separate submissions to the Commission on
the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) that may include areas under dispute
between the two countries, without prejudice to the delimitation of maritime
boundaries between them. In this MoU the two coastal States grant their prior consent
to the consideration by the CLCS of these submissions in the areas under dispute.
Furthermore it is stipulated that the submissions made before the CLCS and the
recommendations approved by the CLCS thereon shall not prejudice the positions of
the two coastal States with respect to the maritime dispute between them and shall be
without prejudice to the future delimitation of maritime boundaries in the areas under
dispute, including the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
In its final paragraph it is stipulated that: ‘This Memorandum of Understanding shall
enter into force upon its signature.’”7
17. Tellingly, in describing the object and purpose of the MOU, Norway skipped right over
the penultimate paragraph and said nothing about settlement of the Parties’ maritime boundary
dispute, stating only that their consent not to object to each other’s CLCS submissions was without
prejudice to their respective positions on the boundary. Norway did not describe the MOU as an
agreement on a specific method or timetable for settlement of the boundary dispute. Norway made
no reference to settlement of that dispute or to how such a settlement might be achieved. On the
subject of delimitation, Norway’s Note Verbale said only this, on page 3, and on your screens:
“The politically most sensitive issues involved may be the unresolved issues of
maritime delimitation between Somalia and neighbouring coastal States. Norway
takes no position on these issues other than laying as a premise for its assistance that
68
such issues of maritime delimitation with other States not be prejudiced.”
18. The Court has no reason not to take Norway at its word. By its own description, in
proffering and recommending execution of the MOU, Norway was not addressing or attempting to
facilitate resolution of the Parties’ maritime boundary dispute; rather, it sought only to ensure that
6Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations to the Secretariat of the
United Nations (17 Aug. 2011), POK, Vol. II, Ann. 4.
6Ibid. - 41 -
the Parties’ submissions to the CLCS would be acted upon by that body. Norway’s approach was
thus to separate the Parties’ submissions to the CLCS from their maritime boundary dispute, so that
the former could be addressed by the CLCS without implicating, or prejudicing, the latter.
19. At the time the MOU was discussed and signed, no one not Norway, not Somalia, and
not Kenya — indicated that it considered the MOU to be concerned with settlement of the maritime
boundary dispute. That intention is not present, not explicitly, and not implicitly, in any of the
contemporaneous records.
20. Kenya’s records confirm this. At tab 8 is the Kenyan Foreign Ministry’s August 2009
internal memorandum regarding registration of the MOU with the United Nations. It describes
the MOU as being “in respect of submissions on the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond
200 miles” . Nothing about dispute settlement is mentioned.
21. Similarly, at tab 9, you will find a summary of Kenya’s presentation to the CLCS in
September 2009. There, the Chairperson of the Task Force on Delineation of Kenya’s Outer
Continental Shelf, the same person who was consulted about the MOU by Ambassador Longva
prior to execution, is recorded as describing the MOU as a “provisional arrangement . . . of a
practical nature . . . whereby the parties undertake not to object to the examination of their
70
respective submissions” . Nothing of that dispute settlement.
22. The executive summary of Kenya’s submission to the CLCS, an excerpt of which is at
tab 10, also describes the MOU only as “granting each other no objection in respect of submissions
on the outer limits of the continental shelf” . On the maritime boundary, the Executive Summary
states merely that Kenya and Somalia will delimit their boundary “pursuant to an agreement . . . on
the basis of international law” . This is no more than a restatement of their mutual obligation
under Articles 74 (1) and 83 (1) of UNCLOS.
69Message from Jacqueline K. Moseti to the Legal Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding “Registration
of Memorandum of Understanding between GOK and the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic”
(20 Aug. 2009) attaching Note Verbale from the United Nations Secretariat (14 Aug. 2009); POK, Vol. II, Ann. 17.
70
United Nations, Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Statement by the Chairman of the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the progress of work of the Commission, United Nations
doc. CLCS/64 (1 Oct. 2009), para. 95; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 61.
71
Republic of Kenya, Submission on the Continental Shelf Submission beyond 200 nautical miles to the
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf: Executive Summary (Apr. 2009), para. 7-3; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 59.
72Ibid. - 42 -
23. The MOU is mentioned in the same paragraph of Kenya’s Executive Summary.
Significantly, Kenya does not describe it as an instrument that addresses in any way the means to
settle or reach agreement on the boundary. The contemporaneous evidence is thus conclusive.
Kenya gave no indication that it regarded the MOU as imposing any obligations in regard to
settlement of the boundary dispute. All of Kenya’s statements from 2009 refer to the MOU solely
as an agreement on non-objection to the Parties’ respective submissions to the CLCS, without
prejudice to issues of maritime delimitation. There is nothing more than that.
24. The same is true for Somalia’s contemporaneous statements. The Transitional Federal
Government was sworn in on 22 February 2009, just a few weeks before Ambassador Longva
presented it with the draft MOU on 10 March. Senior Somali officials were informed of Norway’s
73
assistance with the submission to the CLCS at the same time that they received the draft MOU .
For this reason, they assumed that the MOU and the submission were indivisibly connected to one
74
another, and that the MOU was necessary for the submission to be filed .
25. In an e-mail sent shortly after the 10 March meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister
expressed his gratitude to Norway for “do[ing] all the work that we [were] supposed to do”
regarding the preparation of the preliminary information and expressing his understanding that “we
must have the mem[o]random of understanding that [Norway] ha[s] prepared” . 75 This
understanding was confirmed by the Minister of Planning and International Co-operation, who said
that the Somali Government believed it had “to sign the MOU with Kenya” in order to proceed
76
with its submission to the CLCS . Thus, for Somalia as well as Kenya, the MOU was linked
directly to the submission to the CLCS. It was not understood as an agreement on the means for
73Federal Republic of Somalia, Preliminary Information Indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf and
Description of the status of preparation of making a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
for Somalia (hereinafter “Somalia, Preliminary Information to the CLCS”) (14 Apr. 2009), p. 4; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 66.
74See POK, Ann. 13, p. 2 (Somali Minister of Planning and International Cooperation indicating that the Somali
government had “to sign the MOU with Kenya” in order to proceed with its submission); POK, Ann. 7, pp. 1-2
(recording the Somali Deputy Prime Minister expressing his gratitude to Norway with regard to the CLCS submission
and expressing his understanding that “we must have the mem[o]random of understanding that [Norway] ha[s]
prepared”).
75E-mail exchange between Ms Rina Kristmoen, Hon. Prof. Abdirahman Haji Adan Ibbi,
Amb. Hans Wilhelm Longva and Ms Juster Nkoroi (10–22 Mar. 2009), pp. 1-2; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 7.
76Network Al-Shahid, Press Release issued by former Somali Minister of National Planning and International
Co-operation, Dr. Abdirahman Abdishakur (7 July 2012), p. 2; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 13. - 43 -
settlement of the boundary dispute. In sum, the evidence surrounding the adoption of the MOU
in 2009 fully supports Professor Pellet’s reading of the text.
III. The Parties’ Subsequent Conduct
26. I turn then to the evidence of the Parties’ practice following execution of the MOU.
27. The most important conduct during this period consists of the direct, bilateral
negotiations on the maritime boundary that the Parties planned in 2013 and conducted in 2014.
Kenya’s own conduct directly contradicts its attempt to read into the MOU an agreement that the
boundary would only be settled after the CLCS process was completed. At tab 11, and on your
screens, is a joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Somalia and Kenya, dated 31 May 2013. I
apologize for the poor quality of the document but I believe it is still legible. You can see that, on
page 2, the two Ministers “underlined the need to work on a framework of modalities for
embarking on maritime delimitation” . 77 This was reflected in a newspaper article, dated
10 June 2013, which reported that it was Kenya itself that had “request[ed] . . . talks to demarcate
78
maritime boundaries” . Kenya has not disputed this. Notably, Kenya took this initiative to engage
in negotiations to resolve the disputed maritime boundary well before the CLCS had issued any
recommendations on delineation of the outer continental shelf. Indeed, at the time, the CLCS had
not even taken up consideration of either the Kenyan or the Somali submission. Just as notably, the
joint statement also contradicts Kenya’s assertion that its main purpose in proposing talks with
Somalia was not delimitation of the maritime boundary, but persuading Somalia to withdraw the
objection it had filed with the CLCS. The date of the joint statement is May 2013. Somalia did not
make its objection to the CLCS until February 2014, nine months later. What the joint statement
therefore reflects is Kenya’s understanding that there was no impediment in the MOU to resolving
the maritime boundary dispute with Somalia before the CLCS had acted.
28. Bilateral negotiations on the maritime boundary were commenced following a meeting
between the two Foreign Ministers on 19 February 2014. Contemporary documentary evidence,
7F. Yusuf H. Adam, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation, Federal Republic of Somalia,
& A. Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Kenya, Kenya-Somalia Joint Press Release
(31 May 2013), p. 2; POK, Vol. II, Ann. 31.
78
“Somalia Cabinet rejects appeal for talks on border dispute with Kenya”, Hiiraan (10 June 2013), p. 1; POK,
Vol. II, Ann. 32. - 44 -
including a letter from the Somali Foreign Minister to the Kenyan Foreign Minister, which you can
find at tab 12, and on your screens, shows that, at that meeting, Kenya again declared the
“willingness of the Government of Kenya to engage the Somali government in regards to the
79
existing dispute relating to the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries” .
Kenya’s Foreign Minister followed up the meeting with a Note Verbale to her Somali counterpart
inviting Somalia to send a delegation to Nairobi to commence negotiations on the maritime
boundary .80 On this basis, the Parties agreed to meet in late March 2014 to “settle . . . the
81
dispute . . . regarding the maritime boundary” . There is no reference to the MOU, or to any other
alleged impediment to the settlement of the boundary dispute, or to the fact that the CLCS had not
issued recommendations to either Party. There is nothing to that effect in the Kenyan invitation, or
in the Somali response, or in any other correspondence exchanged between the two States.
29. Now the significance of these exchanges is obvious. They contradict Kenya’s current
contentions that the MOU constitutes an agreement on a specific and exclusive means of settlement
of the Parties’ maritime boundary dispute, which may take place only “after the Commission has
concluded its examination of the separate submissions made by each of the two coastal States and
82
made its recommendations to the two coastal States” . Plainly, in 2013 and 2014, neither Party
regarded the absence of CLCS recommendations as an obstacle to the commencement of
negotiations, to the resolution of the dispute by that means, or indeed to any other form of dispute
settlement.
30. Kenya knows that its willingness to negotiate a boundary agreement with Somalia in
2013 and 2014 reflects an understanding of the MOU that is completely incompatible with the one
that it adopted after this case was commenced, and which its counsel advocated yesterday. That is
why they struggled so mightily to explain away those boundary negotiations. That unhappy task
79Letter from H.E. Dr. Abdirahman Beileh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the
Federal Republic of Somalia, to H.E. Ms. Amina Mohamed, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Trade of the
Republic of Kenya, No. MOFA/SER/MO/ /2014 (13Mar. 2014), p. 1; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 43.
80
See Note Verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Kenya to the
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia in Nairobi, No. MFA. PROT/7/8/1 (7 Mar. 2014); WSS, Vol. II, Ann. 23.
81
Letter from H.E. Dr. Abdirahman Beileh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the
Federal Republic of Somalia, to H.E. Ms. Amina Mohamed, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Trade of the
Republic of Kenya, No. MOFA/SER/MO/ /2014 (13Mar. 2014), p. 1; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 43.
822009 MOU, para. 5; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 6 (emphasis added). - 45 -
fell primarily to Ambassador Muchiri. Mr. President, you will recall being told that what took
place were only “two technical level meetings” . That is incorrect. The delegations to the second
meeting, in July 2014, were headed by the Foreign Ministers; and both were present during the
talks.
31. The Court was also told that “the primary purpose was not to hold substantive
84 85
negotiations on the maritime boundary” , but “to discuss the breach of the MOU” . Again that is
incorrect. In fact, it is, completely belied by the evidence. At tab 13, and on your screens, is the
Joint Report on the meeting of 26 and 27 March 2014. It is referred to as the “Kenya-Somalia
Maritime Boundary Meeting” . The Report makes clear that the Parties focused almost entirely on
the maritime boundary. There were extensive discussions on that subject. For example: under the
heading “Discussions on the Maritime Boundary”, on page 2, four topics are listed as having been
addressed: “(a) Kenya’s departure from the ‘equidistance’ methodology adopted by the Kenyan
Government in the 1972 Territorial Waters Act [as revised in 1977] and the 1989 Maritime Zones
Act to the 2005 Presidential Proclamation; (b) Starting point for the determination of the maritime
boundary; (c) Baseline and base points; (d) Potential maritime boundary line.” 87
32. In an effort to downplay these negotiations and their significance, Ambassador Muchiri
and others referred to them as merely “preliminary” 88 and only for purposes of “confidence
89
building” . But that is not how the Parties described them in their Joint Report, which contains a
detailed record of their exchanges over two full days of meetings. The Joint Report refers, in
particular, to a PowerPoint presentation Kenya made at the meeting. The Kenyan PowerPoint is at
tab 14. As you will see when you review this document, this was a serious, substantive and
detailed presentation. It includes a map of the East African coastline showing what Kenya
considers to be a concavity giving rise to “special circumstances”, detailed models and calculations
83CR 2016/10, p. 46, para. 2 (Muchiri).
84CR 2016/10, p. 47, para. 5 (Muchiri).
85
CR 2016/10, p. 46, para. 2 (Muchiri).
86
Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014, p. 1; MS, Vol. III,
Ann. 31.
87Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014, p. 2; MS, Vol. III,
Ann. 31.
88CR 2016/10, p. 46, para. 3 (Muchiri).
89CR 2016/10, p. 47, para. 8 (Muchiri). - 46 -
of the relevant coasts and relevant area, and maps depicting what Kenya considered the “inequity”
it would suffer if the boundary were based on equidistance, as Somalia advocated at the meeting . 90
The argument that you heard yesterday, that the meeting was not actually devoted to a detailed
discussion of the maritime boundary, but was mainly concerned with Somalia’s objection to the
CLCS, is contradicted by the evidence before you.
33. This is also reflected in the Joint Report’s conclusion:
“The delegations after considering several options and methods including
bisector, perpendicular, median and parallel of latitude could not reach a consensus on
the potential maritime boundary line acceptable to both countries to be adopted.
Consequently, the two delegations resolved to refer the matter to the principals [that
is, the Foreign Ministers] for further guidance.” 91
34. Somalia does not dispute that Kenya sought to place the MOU on the Agenda for this
meeting, or that Kenya wanted Somalia to withdraw its objection so that the CLCS would consider
Kenya’s submission. But that is not the critical issue here. We accept that the MOU says that
neither State would object to the other’s submission to the CLCS. That is not in dispute. The
critical issue here is whether the MOU — beyond its no-objection language — obligates the Parties
to a specific means of resolving their maritime boundary dispute.
35. On this issue, Kenya’s conduct in 2013 and 2014 is telling. At no time during that
period, when bilateral negotiations on the maritime boundary were being proposed and conducted,
did Kenya ever suggest that the MOU established a method, let alone an exclusive method, for
resolution of the boundary dispute. To the contrary, Kenya’s sole contention about the MOU was
that it was a non-objection agreement, with which Somalia had to comply. That was Kenya’s only
stated purpose in putting the MOU on the agenda for the bilateral meetings.
36. Kenya seems to have only belatedly discovered, after this lawsuit was commenced, that
the MOU bars any resolution of the maritime boundary dispute except by negotiations following
action by the CLCS. Kenya admits that it never previously expressed this interpretation of the
MOU. Professor Forteau attempted to excuse this failure on the ground that Kenya had no prior
9Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014, Annex 3; MS, Vol. III,
Ann. 31.
91
Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014, p. 6; MS, Vol. III,
Ann. 31. - 47 -
92
occasion to make its view of the MOU known . We disagree. If this were truly Kenya’s
pre-litigation understanding of the MOU, it is reasonable to assume they would have brought it up
in 2014, at which time, under Kenya’s current view, the MOU would have prevented the Parties
from conducting any negotiations for the purpose of resolving the boundary dispute, because there
had been no action by the CLCS.
37. The March 2014 negotiations were followed by a second round of talks four months
later. Ambassador Muchiri told you: “It is clear that Kenya initiated the meeting to discuss the
93
MOU.” That, too, is at odds with the record. Tab 15, and on your screens, is a Note Verbale sent
from Kenya to Somalia inviting it to a second round of negotiations in Nairobi, in July 2014. You
will see that Kenya’s invitation explicitly refers to “the negotiations between the Government of
the Republic of Kenya and the Federal Republic of Somalia on the delimitation of our overlapping
maritime boundary” . In the following paragraph, the Note invites Somalia to the talks expressly
95
to “discuss the issue on the delimitation of the two countries’ overlapping maritime boundary” .
No reference is made to any discussion of the MOU or even to Somalia’s objection to Kenya’s
submission to the CLCS.
38. At tab 16 is the Joint Report of that July 2014 meeting. You were told yesterday that
“maritime delimitation was discussed only in the most preliminary way” . That is not what the
report says. It establishes that: the purpose of the meeting was reflected in its title “the
Kenya-Somalia Maritime Boundary Meeting”; the negotiating teams both made “presentations . . .
on the issue of the maritime boundary”; and “intense discussions” between the two sides occurred
97
in the presence of the two Foreign Ministers .
92
See CR 2016/10, p. 42, para. 26; p. 45, para. 34 (Forteau).
93
CR 2016/10, p. 47, para. 8 (Muchiri).
94Government of Somalia and Government of Kenya, Joint Report on the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Boundary
Meeting, 28-29 July 2014 (July 2014); MS, Vol. III, Ann. 32 (emphasis added).
95Note Verbale from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Kenya to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Investment Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia, No. MFA/REL/13/21A
(24 July 2014); WSS, Vol. II, Ann. 24.
96CR 2016/10, p. 46, para. 2 (Muchiri).
97Government of Somalia and Government of Kenya, Joint Report on the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Boundary
Meeting, 28-29 July 2014 (July 2014); MS, Vol. III, Ann. 32. - 48 -
39. Kenya now attempts to recharacterize this negotiating session. Its effort is defeated not
only by the Joint Report, but also by its own internal report on the meeting, dated 8 August 2014.
40. Somalia did not have this report at the time it filed its Written Statement in response to
Kenya’s Preliminary Objections, because Kenya chose not to disclose it when it filed those
objections last year. The Kenyan report was only obtained by Somalia in June of this year, with the
assistance of the Court after Somalia requested that Kenya produce all internal records pertaining to
the negotiations that took place in March and July 2014.
41. You can see this internal Kenyan document at tab 17. It is addressed to the Foreign
Minister of Kenya and reports on the “second boundary meeting” which it describes as “a
98
continuation of the March meeting” . It does not mention the MOU at all. This is a significant
omission in a Kenyan document intended to memorialize the key points discussed at the meeting.
42. Instead, the document reports exclusively and extensively on the Parties’ exchange of
views with regard to their maritime boundary dispute. As this report makes clear, what occurred
was far more than a mere expression of so-called “preliminary views”. As described on the second
page, Kenya’s presentation addressed: “Applicable (maritime) laws in Kenya; factors considered
in arriving at the parallel of latitude; and a conclusion presenting the scenario (parallel of latitude)
after application of the said factors”. The document also notes that Kenya referred to case law and
99
cited State practice . Such a detailed presentation is hardly a “preliminary view”. According to
the report, Somalia made an equally detailed substantive argument in favour of its position that the
boundary should be based on equidistance, also making explicit reference to case law . 100
43. Tab 18 is Somalia’s internal report of the meeting, which is consistent with Kenya’s in
regard to the matters discussed, including the extensive and detailed presentations made by each
side in respect of its views on delimitation of the maritime boundary. Somalia’s internal report of
the July 2014 meeting, as you heard yesterday, includes remarks made by Kenya’s Foreign
Minister that are not reflected in Kenya’s internal report, as seen on page 2, to the effect that “if no
98Memorandum from S. Mokaya-Orina, Head/Legal & Host Country Affairs Directorate, to Cabinet Secretary,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Trade, Republic of Kenya (8 Aug. 2014), p. 1.
99Ibid., p. 2.
100
Ibid., p. 1. - 49 -
agreement could be reached between both countries, both countries might resort to international
arbitration” .1
44. Kenya has disavowed that statement, including by means of a declaration by the Foreign
Minister, dated 5 May 2016, 21 months after this case was commenced. Somalia stands by the
accuracy of its own contemporaneous, pre-litigation report. In particular, Somalia underscores the
two sentences immediately preceding the one that Kenya disputes. The Foreign Minister notably
does not dispute the accuracy of those two sentences in her late-filed Declaration prepared for
purposes of these hearings. They are now on the screen:
“Minister Beileh [that is, Somalia’s Foreign Minister] asked Minister Mohamed
[Kenya’s Foreign Minister] as to how long would both countries continue to have their
delegations entangled in these heated discussions without any possible solution.
Minister Mohamed of Kenya stated that although both delegations are far apart, she
would like both teams to meet again and attempt one final time to find an amicable
102
solution.”
One final time to find an amicable solution.
45. As you heard from Somalia’s Agent, a third and final meeting was scheduled, but
without explanation, the Kenyan delegation simply failed to show up. Nor did it respond to
Somalia’s urgent inquiries, by e-mail and by letter correspondence, asking Kenya when or whether
the meeting would take place. At tab 19, and on your screens, is a letter from Somalia’s Foreign
Minister to Kenya’s, dated 26 August 2014. The letter reads, on page 2:
“[Further] as your Excellency requested at the conclusion of the meeting on
29 July, the Somali delegation agreed to hold one more round of meetings in regard to
the pending dispute, in Mogadishu on 25 and 26 August. The Somali delegation is
deeply disappointed that the Kenyan delegation did not arrive on the agreed dates,
103
preventing the meetings from taking place.”
46. No response to this letter was received. Somalia’s decision to come to this Court,
following unsuccessful substantive negotiations, which left the Parties far apart and without
prospect of settlement, together with Kenya’s unexplained no-show at what was agreed would be
10M. Al-Sharmani and M. Omar, Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of
Somalia, Report to the File of the Meeting between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya On
Maritime Boundary Dispute, Nairobi, Kenya, 28-29 July 2014 (5 Aug. 2014), p. 2; WSS, Vol. II, Ann. 4.
10Ibid.
103
Letter from H.E. Dr. Abdirahman Beileh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion of the Federal
Republic of Somalia, to Ms Amina Mohamed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, No. 2231
(26 Aug. 2014); MS, Vol. III, Ann. 47. - 50 -
the final meeting, cannot justly be described as precipitous. Much less can it be described as
104
“deceptive” .
47. Mr. President, what you heard yesterday simply cannot be squared with the evidence,
which, as you have seen, consists of contemporaneous documentation whose authenticity and
reliability are unchallenged, and includes materials produced and signed by both Parties. That
evidence makes it unmistakably clear that Kenya saw no contradiction, in 2013 and 2014 before
this case was filed in proposing and engaging in negotiations to resolve the maritime boundary
dispute, long before the CLCS could issue its recommendations, at the same time it was invoking
the MOU to get Somalia to withdraw its objection to Kenya’s submission. That is because there
was no contradiction in Kenya’s position then. It considered the MOU to be a non-objection
agreement in regard to the Parties’ submissions to the CLCS, no more and no less.
48. Kenya knows this evidence puts them in a difficult, if not desperate, situation in their
attempt to invoke the MOU to escape the Court’s jurisdiction. Desperate circumstances often
breed desperate measures, or at least, desperate arguments. And that is the likely explanation for
the argument elaborated for the first time yesterday. Previously, in its Preliminary Objections,
Kenya argued that under the MOU the method of settlement of the boundary dispute was “to
negotiate a full and final agreement on maritime boundary delimitation after CLCS review of their
105
respective submissions” . They changed that yesterday. Their new argument, fabricated to fit the
uncomfortable facts, is that the MOU did not prevent the Parties from negotiating a resolution of
their maritime boundary dispute prior to CLCS action; it only prevented them from reaching an
agreement. That would make the MOU a very unique document, indeed, if not one of a kind. It
would provide for negotiation of the maritime boundary dispute, but only so long as no agreement
was reached. There are, of course, such things as agreements to agree. This would be the
opposite: an agreement not to agree.
49. It is plainly no such thing. Kenya’s new argument simply makes no sense. It is certainly
not how Kenya understood the MOU during the negotiations that took place in 2014. The
objective of those meetings was to reach an agreement on the maritime boundary. That is clear
10CR 2016/10, p. 50, para. 14 (Muchiri).
10POK, para. 73 (emphasis added). - 51 -
from the Joint Reports, as well as the Parties’ internal reports. The exchange between Foreign
Minister Beileh and Foreign Minister Mohamed , demonstrates this, as does the subsequent letter
107
from Minister Beileh to Minister Mohamed . The Ministers agreed at the end of the July
meetings to meet again and attempt one final time to find an amicable solution. They did not say:
“But, unfortunately, we cannot achieve a solution because the MOU doesn’t allow us to.”
50. Kenya’s conduct, even after the present case was commenced, contradicts their new
interpretation of the MOU. On 24 October 2014, two months after Somalia’s Application was
filed, Kenya sent a Note Verbale to the United Nations Secretary-General. It is at tab 20, and on
your screens. In this document, on page 2, Kenya states:
“Kenya remains committed and continues to pursue more legitimate avenues to
have the delimitation of the maritime boundary amicably resolved, most preferably
through a bilateral agreement with the Somali Federal Republic and in this regard
wishes to inform that notwithstanding the aforementioned actions by Somalis [i.e., the
objection to Kenya’s CLCS submission], bilateral diplomatic negotiations, at the
highest levels possible, are ongoing with a view to resolving the matter expeditiously
and with a view to continuing peaceful cooperation, security and stability in the
108
region.”
51. If another death blow to Kenya’s new interpretation of the MOU is required, this
Note Verbale deals it. It was sent at a time when Somalia’s objection was still in effect, and after
the CLCS determined that it could not even create a subcommission to review Kenya’s claims. In
other words, CLCS action was not even possible. Yet, Kenya represented to the Secretary-General
that it would continue negotiations at the highest levels to achieve a resolution of the maritime
boundary dispute expeditiously. Not ten or twenty years from now, not after the CLCS has acted,
but “expeditiously”. Obviously, Kenya did not then consider the MOU a bar either to negotiations
or to an expeditious agreement.
52. Mr. President, Members of the Court, I can state my conclusions very succinctly. The
contemporaneous evidence, consisting of statements and conduct of the Parties, and of Norway as
10M. Al-Sharmani and M. Omar, Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of
Somalia, Report to the File of the Meeting between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya On
Maritime Boundary Dispute, Nairobi, Kenya, 28-29 July 2014 (5 Aug. 2014), p. 2; WSS, Vol. II, Ann. 4.
10Letter from H.E. Dr. Abdirahman Beileh, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion of the
Federal Republic of Somalia, to Ms Amina Mohamed, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, No. 2231
(26 Aug. 2014); MS, Vol. III, Ann. 47.
108
Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations to
H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, No. 586/14 (24 Oct. 2014), p. 2; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 50. - 52 -
drafter and broker of the MOU, shows clearly and unambiguously that neither Kenya, nor Somalia,
nor Norway, ever considered the MOU to be a binding agreement on a specific means of settling
the Parties’ maritime boundary dispute. To the contrary, all of the principals saw it for what it was:
an attempt to remove potential obstacles to CLCS consideration of their outer continental shelf
submissions by obligating them not to raise objections to each other’s submissions, and nothing
else.
53. In so far as references were made to the maritime boundary dispute, these were
understood to be for the purpose of separating that dispute from the claims submitted to the CLCS,
and of preserving and avoiding prejudice to the Parties’ respective positions on the boundary. The
purpose of the penultimate paragraph of the MOU was not to settle the boundary dispute, or
prescribe a means for doing so, but to separate and insulate it from the effects of the Parties’
understanding on non-objection to their respective submissions to the CLCS. Mr. President, the
interpretation given by the Parties to the MOU, as reflected in their consistent conduct, does not
support Kenya’s attempt to use the MOU to block Somalia’s recourse to the Court in this case.
And, as Professor Pellet has already shown you, neither does the MOU’s text.
54. Mr. President, Members of the Court, I thank you for your kind courtesy and patient
attention, and I ask that you call Professor Sands to the podium.
Le PRESIDENT : Merci. Je donne la parole au professeur Philippe Sands.
Mr. SANDS:
N EITHER THE MOU NOR PART XV OF UNCLOS FALLS WITHIN K ENYA S
O PTIONAL C LAUSE RESERVATION
I. Introduction
1. Monsieur le président, Members of the Court, it is an honour for me to appear before you
in these proceedings on behalf of the Federal Republic of SomalYou have heard from
Professor Pellet on the proper interpretation of the MOU a slender document on which Kenya
places much weight and you have also heard from Mr. Reichler on the manner in which the MOU
was negotiated and understood by the Parties, a text and context that both indicate that the MOU is - 53 -
not and was never intended or understood to be an agreement concerned with the
delimitation of the Parties’ maritime boundary.
2. I shall address Kenya’s claim that the MOU falls within the scope of the first reservation
to its Optional Clause declaration. By that argument Kenya hopes to persuade the Court that it has
no jurisdiction to examine Somalia’s Application under Article 36 (2) of the Statute of the Court. I
will seek to explain why Kenya’s argument is without foundation, in fact and in law.
3. Before addressing that argument, however, an initial observation may be appropriate. In
its written Preliminary Objections, Kenya invested considerable time and effort in seeking to
persuade the Court not to render the impartial and legally authoritative binding ruling that would
bring to an end the protracted maritime boundary dispute that so disrupts relations between the
Parties. Kenya seems hostile to an authoritative judicial determination by this Court, although not
necessarily to an Annex VII arbitration, depending on how one understands Professor Boyle.
4. The apparent hostility towards this Court was made rather clear again yesterday, and it is
perhaps a reflection of Kenya’s growing recognition that its claim to a maritime boundary based on
a line of parallel is without merit, a claim that it has surely been advised would most likely fail
before this Court. Equally without merit is Kenya’s unhappy reliance in its pleadings on the
doctrine of “unclean hands”, an argument that might invite a wistful response: is Kenya’s
particular invocation of good faith and mutual consent simply a means of prolonging its own
unilateral conduct in the disputed maritime area?
5. As Somalia has explained in its Written Statement, Kenya’s reliance on its Optional
Clause reservation like its claim to a parallel maritime boundary, and, you would say, its “clean
hands” argument faces considerable legal and factual obstacles. Chapters 2 to 4 of our Written
Statement contain a detailed exposition of the defects in Kenya’s case. “Anywhere but the ICJ in
The Hague”, Kenya in effect told you yesterday, and nowhere else either, unless subject to a delay
of the kind that would entrench the status quo, continue the uncertainty and prolong the instability.
To accede to Kenya’s request would extinguish the potential role of this Court, the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, not only in this case but in many others. - 54 -
II. The MOU does not fall within Kenya’s Optional Clause reservation
6. Let us start with Kenya’s Optional Clause declaration, made under Article 36 (2), an
integral aspect of the Court’s jurisdictional framework. Somalia and Kenya have been parties to
the Optional Clause system for more than half a century, as both States made declarations under
Article 36 (2) shortly after they attained independence from colonial rule in the 1960s Somalia
on 11 April 1963, Kenya on 19 April 1965. Their long-standing participation in the Optional
Clause system reflects a shared commitment to the object and purpose of the Statute. That purpose,
as the Court observed in the LaGrand case, is “to enable the Court to fulfil the functions provided
for therein, and, in particular, the basic function of judicial settlement of international disputes by
binding decisions in accordance with Article 59 of the Statute” . This aim underpins Somalia’s
Application. It is reflected, too, in the United Nations’ General Assembly’s aspirations that, “legal
110
disputes should as a general rule be referred by the parties to the International Court of Justice” .
7. As this Court explained in the Nottebohm case, compulsory jurisdiction under
Article 36 (2) “results from a previous agreement which makes it possible to seise the Court of a
dispute without a Special Agreement” . That previous agreement arises from the existence of
convergent Optional Clause declarations by the States concerned. And, in this case, contrary to
what we heard yesterday from counsel for Kenya, the declarations of Somalia and Kenya are
convergent, and they do allow the Court to exercise jurisdiction.
8. As the Court explained in the Nicaragua case, Optional Clause declarations “establish a
series of bilateral engagements with other States accepting the same obligation of compulsory
jurisdiction” . At its heart, therefore, the Optional Clause system involves a series of binding
mutual obligations grounded in reciprocity. Those bilateral relationships reflect a shared
recognition of this Court’s unique and significant role in the peaceful resolution of disputes
between States. The bilateral character of the obligations established under Article 36 (2) is
significant, as it indicates that only a deliberate, clear and unambiguous exclusion of the Court’s
10LaGrand (Germany v. United States of America), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2001, p. 502, para. 102.
110
Article 5 of the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, adopted by the
General Assembly in resolution 37/10 of 15 Nov. 1982.
11Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala), Preliminary Objection, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1953, p. 122.
11Military and Paramilitary Activities (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Jurisdiction and Admissibility,
Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1984, p. 418, para. 60. - 55 -
jurisdiction can operate to oust the right of one State to bring an Application before the Court
against the other. In the present case it is readily apparent that no such exclusion applies.
9. Let us look at the first reservation to Kenya’s Optional Clause declaration. It covers:
“Disputes in regard to which the parties to the dispute have agreed or shall agree to have recourse
to some other method or methods of settlement.”
10. As the Parties have explained in their written submissions, no fewer than 34 other States
113
have entered materially identical reservations in their Optional Clause declarations . To accede to
Kenya’s interpretation would therefore be to undermine the potential role of this Court, in respect
of these declarations, a role for the Court that is more important today than ever before. It would
also be a novel and unprecedented step in the Court’s jurisprudence. As the then President of the
Court observed in a speech in 2010:
“40 States have limited their optional clause declarations by stipulating that any
other mechanisms of dispute settlement as agreed between the parties will prevail over
the general jurisdiction of the Court. In the few cases where this condition has been at
issue, the Court found that it did not exclude recourse to ICJ adjudication.” 114
11. It is very difficult to see how this case could be any different. How the MOU could
reasonably be interpreted as an agreement to have recourse to another method of settlement, or
indeed to exclude the right of recourse to this Court.
12. Kenya’s entire argument rests on the interpretation of a single sentence, an aspirational
line that it says excludes judicial settlement of the dispute concerning the maritime boundary. That
single sentence is located in a document that is, on its face, concerned exclusively with the
delineation of the outer limit of the continental shelf. Without textual or contextual support, Kenya
seeks to elevate that line into a binding agreement that requires the entire disputed maritime
boundary including the territorial sea, the EEZ and the inner continental shelf of which the
MOU makes no mention at all to be delimited only by negotiation between the two States. On
Kenya’s approach, that one line excludes any recourse to this Court on any matter of maritime
delimitation.
11POK, para. 142; WSS para. 1.29.
114
President of the International Court of Justice, Introductory Remarks at the Seminar on the Contentious
Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, 26 Oct. 2010. - 56 -
13. And as Professor Pellet has explained, the single sentence mirrors the language of
Articles 74 (1) and 83 (1) of UNCLOS. This is boilerplate language, it goes no further than the
general provisions of international law that have bound the Parties since they ratified UNCLOS.
The line does not develop, supplement, modify or magnify those general obligations. It says
nothing about the right of recourse to the Court, about the Optional Clause, or about other possible
methods of judicial or arbitral determination. It contains no exclusionary language not
expressly, and not impliedly and it offers no details about the form, duration and scope of any
supposedly mandatory negotiations. It simply cannot bear the great weight that Kenya seeks to
place upon it.
14. In assessing Kenya’s far-fetched claim, we would invite you to bear in mind a number of
points:
(1) First, Kenya’s Optional Clause declaration does not contain any express exclusion in respect of
maritime delimitation disputes in general, or the maritime boundary dispute with Somalia in
particular. Had Kenya wished to exclude such disputes from the scope of its Optional Clause
declaration under Article 36 (2), it could very easily have done so at any time during the five
115
decades since it made its declaration in 1965, as many other States have done . Indeed,
Kenya’s declaration expressly “reserves the right at any time . . . to add to, amend, or withdraw
115
See, for example, the Optional Clause declarations of Australia (which excludes, inter alia, “any dispute
concerning or relating to the delimitation of maritime zones, including the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone
and the continental shelf, or arising out of, concerning, or relating to the exploitation of any disputed area of or adjacent
to any such maritime zone pending its delimitation”); Djibouti (which excludes, inter alia, “disputes with the Republic
of Djibouti concerning or relating to… (b) The territorial sea, the continental shelf and the margins, the exclusive fishery
zone, the exclusive economic zone and other zones of national maritime jurisdiction including for the regulation and
control of marine pollution and the conduct of scientific research by foreign vessels; . . . and (e) the determination and
delimitation of its maritime boundaries.”); Greece (which excludes, inter alia, “any dispute concerning State boundaries
or sovereignty over the territory of the Hellenic Republic, including any dispute over the breadth and limits of its
territorial sea…”); Honduras (which excludes, inter alia, “(d) Disputes referring to: (i) territorial questions with regard
to sovereignty over islands, shoals and keys; internal waters, bays, the territorial sea and the legal status and limits
thereof; (ii) all rights of sovereignty or jurisdiction concerning the legal status and limits of the contiguous zone, the
exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf”); India (which excludes, inter alia, “disputes with India concerning
or relating to . . . (b) the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the margins, the exclusive fishery zone, the exclusive
economic zone, and other zones of national maritime jurisdiction including for the regulation and control of marine
pollution and the conduct of scientific research by foreign vessels; . . . and (e) the determination and delimitation of its
maritime boundaries”); Malta (which excludes, inter alia, “Disputes with Malta concerning or relating to: (a) its
territory, including the territorial sea, and the status thereof, (b) the continental shelf or any other zone of maritime
jurisdiction, and the resources thereof, (c) the determination or delimitation of any of the above”); Nigeria (which
excludes, inter alia, “disputes concerning the allocation, delimitation or demarcation of territory (whether land, maritime,
lacustrine or superjacent air space) unless the Government of Nigeria specially agrees to such jurisdiction and within the
limits of any such special agreement”); and Philippines (which excludes, inter alia, “any dispute . . . in respect of the
territory of the Republic of the Philippines, including its territorial seas and inland waters”). - 57 -
any of the foregoing reservations”. It did not do so not before 2009, not in 2009, and not in
2014.
(2) Second, if the MOU had been intended to exclude judicial delimitation of the contested
maritime boundary, and to enshrine negotiations as the exclusive method of resolving the
dispute, then one would expect the document to contain express and unambiguous language to
this effect, given the far-reaching consequences such an interpretation would entail for both
Parties. It did not do so. There is no hint in the language of the MOU that the document was
intended to exclude or to prescribe any particular method of resolving the boundary dispute.
On the contrary, the title and text of the MOU make it clear that the document was concerned
solely with delineation of the outer continental shelf. The MOU was not intended to and
does not concern matters of delimitation, or dispute resolution relating to delimitation.
(3) Third, as Mr. Reichler pointed out, there is no evidence in the drafting history leading up to the
signing of the MOU that either Party believed itself to be agreeing to exclude recourse to
judicial determination of the disputed maritime boundary. Kenya has offered no
contemporaneous evidence, nothing, to suggest that the Parties considered that they were
renouncing recourse to the Court or any other tribunal in favour of perpetual negotiation.
(4) Fourth, Kenya’s attempt to characterize the MOU as an instrument that established a mandatory
process for delimiting the Parties’ maritime boundary is undermined, fatally we say, by the fact
that the document contained no reference to the maritime boundary within 200 miles. It did not
contain any reference to the EEZ or the territorial sea, not expressly, not implicitly. Had the
MOU also been intended to exclude the Court’s jurisdiction to determine the boundaries of the
territorial sea and the EEZ, and had it intended to make bilateral negotiations the only possible
means of delimiting those boundaries, then the text of the document, we say, would surely have
referred to these zones expressly. Yet it says nothing at all about them. Indeed, the MOU itself
defines the maritime area in dispute strictly in terms of the continental shelf. As
Professor Pellet explained with great clarity, this is consistent with the singular purpose of the
MOU, a document concerned only with the delineation procedures for the outer continental
shelf. - 58 -
(5) Fifth, the Court will have noted that during protracted negotiations with Somalia in 2014, on no
occasion did Kenya ever assert that the MOU fell within the scope of the first reservation to its
Optional Clause declaration. Had it considered this to be the case, surely Kenya would have
made that assertion. It did not do so.
(6) Sixth, and in relation to this last point, there is no evidence to indicate that before it filed its
Preliminary Objections on 7 October 2015, that Kenya ever expressed the view, internally or
externally, that the MOU was an agreement to settle the maritime boundary dispute by
negotiation only, to the exclusion of all other means of peaceful settlement of dispute. It was
only after Somalia seised the Court that Kenya sought to characterize the document in this new
and different light. Kenya’s radical new characterization of the MOU is an invention an
invention of the fertile legal minds whose task was to create an exception, after they were
retained to assist in this case.
(7) Seventh, if, quod non, Kenya is right that the language of the MOU is an agreement “to have
recourse to some other method or methods of settlement” then it would appear to follow that
the materially identical language of Articles 74 and 83 of UNCLOS would have the same effect
and this would have truly radical consequences that were surely not anticipated by the drafters
of or the parties to UNCLOS. On Kenya’s approach, Articles 74 and 83 have the effect of
automatically depriving the Court of jurisdiction under Article 36 (2) of the Statute in respect
of any delimitation dispute concerning the EEZ or continental shelf of a State that is a party to
UNCLOS and whose Optional Clause declaration contains a similarly worded reservation to
Kenya’s reservation. That would be a truly startling outcome, to put it mildly. Given that at
least 33 other States that are parties to UNCLOS and the Optional Clause have entered the
same or a similar reservation as Kenya, the consequence of this Court acceding to Kenya’s
approach would seem to be to deprive the Court of its Optional Clause jurisdiction over
maritime delimitation disputes involving almost half of the 72 States that have accepted
jurisdiction under Article 36 (2).
15. Mr. President, Members of the Court, that is the conclusion that Kenya is inviting you to
impose upon yourself. It cannot be right that so many States would have unwittingly deprived the
Court of its jurisdiction in this way. - 59 -
III. In any event, the Parties have fulfilled any obligation to negotiate
16. In short, our submission is that the MOU does not trigger Kenya’s reservation to its
Optional Clause declaration. Kenya’s arguments to the contrary are unsustainable, as it surely
knows, and would have dire implications for the future role of the Court, not least but not
only in relation to the settlement of maritime boundary disputes.
17. However even assuming, arguendo, that the MOU was a binding agreement that was
capable of falling within the scope of Kenya’s Optional Clause reservation this would not
deprive the Court of jurisdiction to hear Somalia’s Application. The reason for this is simple: if
the MOU created any obligation regarding a negotiated settlement of the disputed maritime
boundary, it was at most a limited obligation of endeavour, not of end. The MOU was not a
pactum de contrahendo an agreement to agree. It was at most a pactum de negociando an
agreement to attempt to agree. As Mr. Reichler has explained, this is exactly what the Parties did
over a period of several months in 2014, but to no avail. After high-level, forceful but ultimately
futile discussions, negotiations between the Parties reached an intractable deadlock. The Parties
themselves recognized this and, in a last ditch effort to reach an amicable solution, did as you have
heard, agreed to have one final meeting, but it never took place because Kenya, without notice,
simply failed to show up, and refused thereafter, as you have heard, to respond to Somalia’s request
for an explanation. Accordingly, having exhausted any obligation to negotiate under the MOU, the
document could not trigger Kenya’s reservation.
18. In the Mavrommatis Palestine Concessions case the Permanent Court of International
Justice observed:
“Negotiations do not of necessity always presuppose a more or less lengthy
series of notes and despatches; it may suffice that a discussion should have been
commenced, and this discussion may have been very short; this will be the case if a
deadlock is reached, or if finally a point is reached at which one of the Parties
definitely declares himself unable, or refuses, to give way, and there c116therefore be
no doubt that the dispute cannot be settled by diplomatic negotiation.”
19. And as the Court explained in Nicaragua v. Honduras, “[i]t is sufficient if, at the date on
which a new procedure is commenced, the initial procedure has come to a standstill in such
11Mavrommatis Palestine Concessions, Judgment No. 2, 1924, P.C.I.J., Series A, No. 2, p. 13. - 60 -
117
circumstances that there appears to be no prospect of its being continued or resumed” . While the
context was different, those words are an apt description of the situation in the present case.
20. This Court has defined “negotiation” as being “a genuine attempt by one of the disputing
parties to engage in discussions with the other disputing party, with a view to resolving the
118
dispute” . It is very hard to see how it can be said that negotiations did not take place, even if
Kenya now seeks to attach rather different labels to what happened. The reality too is that both
sides knew they were involved in negotiations and they knew they were going nowhere and would
lead nowhere not in a real sense with no prospect of moving beyond the standstill.
21. To recap, negotiations between the Parties began in March 2014. The first round took
place in Nairobi. The title of the agenda referred to the “Kenya-Somalia Maritime Boundary
119
Meeting” . At that meeting, the Parties’ delegations articulated their respective positions
concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary. The Kenyan delegation presented a detailed,
multi-slide PowerPoint presentation setting out Kenya’s arguments in support of its claim to a
boundary along a parallel of latitude. Amongst other things, the two negotiating teams discussed
the reasons for Kenya’s departure in 2005, a decade earlier, from its previous recognition of an
equidistance boundary; they discussed the starting point for the determination of the maritime
boundary; the location of the baseline and base points; and the path of the possible maritime
120
boundary line . Despite those detailed exchanges, the Joint Report recorded that the delegations
“could not reach a consensus on the potential maritime boundary line acceptable to both countries
121
to be adopted” .
22. Following consultations with their respective principals, a further round of high-level
negotiations took place in Nairobi in July 2014. This was at a very senior level. The Foreign
11Border and Transborder Armed Actions (Nicaragua v. Honduras), Jurisdiction and Admissibility, Judgment,
I.C.J. Reports 1988, p. 100, para. 80.
11Application of the Convention on the Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian
Federation), Preliminary Objections, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2011 (I), p. 132, para. 157.
119
Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014 (1 Apr. 2014), pp. 1-2,
Ann. 2 to the Report; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 31.
12Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014 (1 Apr. 2014), p. 2, Ann. 2
to the Report; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 31.
12Somalia and Kenya, Joint Report on Maritime Boundary Meeting, 26-27 Mar. 2014 (1 Apr. 2014), p. 6;
MS, Vol. III, Ann 31. - 61 -
Ministers of Kenya and Somalia attended those talks, in Kenya’s words they “took place at the
122
highest levels possible” . Yet Kenya maintained its insistence that the boundary line must follow
a parallel of latitude; Somalia continued to emphasize that, in accordance with UNCLOS and
established principles of general international law, the equidistance approach was the appropriate
methodology for the delimitation. Despite intense discussions, the Parties did not make any
progress at all, and they came no closer to reaching an agreed settlement of any part of the
boundary, or even a common view after the appropriate method of delimitation. The state of
deadlock was reflected in a comment by the Somali Foreign Minister, who asked in frustration at
the end of the talks, “how long would both countries continue to have their delegations entangled in
123
these heated discussions without any possible solution” .
23. I will just offer an aside, our friends from Kenya remarked on the curiosity of our
distinguished Agent drafting that report on the July negotiations in English rather than Somali.
Annex 24 to Somalia’s Memorial is another Report in English submitted by the same Agent on
1 April 2014, and that illustrates that English is in fact the distinguished Agent’s working language
as she has lived and worked abroad for many years, and that she frequently submitted her reports in
English .24
24. Notwithstanding the deadlock, a third round of negotiations was scheduled to take place
in Mogadishu, as you now know a final opportunity to explore possible common ground.
Contrary to what you heard yesterday, those negotiations were not seen merely as one of many
potentially future rounds of negotiations, but were described by both Parties as an attempt “one
125
final time” one final time to reach a negotiated solution . As the Court has seen in our
written pleadings, however, the Kenyan delegation chose not to show up. No explanation or
12Note Verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations to
H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, No. 586/14 (24 Oct. 2014), p. 2; MS, Vol. III, Ann. 50.
123
M. Al-Sharmani and M. Omar, Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of
Somalia, Report to the File of the Meeting between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya on
Maritime Boundary Dispute, Nairobi, Kenya, 28-29 July 2014 (5 Aug. 2014), p. 2; WSS, Vol. II, Ann. 4.
12Report on the Meeting between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya on Maritime
Boundary Dispute, Nairobi, Kenya, 26-27 March 2014 for file with the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1 Apr. 2014);
MS, Ann. 24.
12M. Al-Sharmani and M. Omar, Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of
Somalia, Report to the File of the Meeting between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Kenya on
Maritime Boundary Dispute, Nairobi, Kenya, 28-29 July 2014 (5 Aug. 2014); WSS, Ann. 4. - 62 -
advance notification was provided: they just did not arrive, and they never gave any prior notice or
126
any reason . The first two rounds of talks having failed to make any progress, and the third
having been thwarted by a Kenyan no-show, it was clear to Somalia that an impasse had been
reached.
25. The position at the date of Somalia’s Application to the Court is therefore reminiscent of
the situation that pertained in the Right of Passage case, where the Court observed that, “While the
diplomatic exchanges which took place between the two Governments disclose the existence of a
dispute between them on the principal legal issue which is now before the Court . . . an
examination of the correspondence shows that the negotiations had reached a deadlock” . 127
26. If Kenya’s approach is correct then the Parties would be obliged to engage in an
indefinite process of negotiation, notwithstanding that previous attempts had ended in intractable
deadlock. The Parties must continue to negotiate and only to negotiate no matter how great
the distance between their respective positions; no matter what unilateral activities Kenya is
undertaking in the disputed area; and no matter how entrenched or unreasonable Kenya’s stance
may be in the negotiations. They must continue to negotiate, Kenya says, even after one of the
Parties fails to attend a final meeting at which the negotiations are to conclude. Kenya’s position,
we say, is a recipe for deadlock, for a guarantee of indefinite conflict.
IV. Kenya’s secondary argument: Part XV of UNCLOS
27. Mr. President, it seems that Kenya is now aware of the weakness of its primary
argument, and that is why it has chosen to advance another argument, both subsidiary and
lacklustre, which is said to be based on Part XV of UNCLOS. That argument was limited to a
single paragraph in its Preliminary Objections, one in which Kenya contended without
explanation or elaboration that, “the UNCLOS Part XV methods of settlement would also
trigger Kenya’s reservation and exclude the Court’s jurisdiction” . 128
12WSS, para. 2.72.
127
Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India), Preliminary Objections, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports
1957, p. 149.
128
POK, para. 147. - 63 -
28. You heard Kenya’s counsel yesterday, Professors Boyle and Lowe sought to add to that
argument, or non-argument. They certainly made it longer indeed so much longer that one is
bound to wonder whether it reflects a recognition and understanding of the weakness of their main
argument but that length did not make it any more plausible.
29. And let me be blunt: the argument is hopeless, for Part XV of UNCLOS does not and
cannot affect the binding agreement established by Kenya and Somalia’s matching convergent
overlapping Optional Clause declarations. If Kenya is right, the Court’s jurisdiction would be
extinguished with respect to maritime disputes between the States that are parties to UNCLOS with
a similar Optional Clause reservation to Kenya.
30. The agreement that arises by virtue of the matching declarations made under
Article 36 (2) of the Statute and they are matching and they do converge and they do overlap
takes priority over the dispute resolution procedures contained in Article 287 of UNCLOS.
Article 282 of UNCLOS makes the relationship between these provisions clear a point we
emphasized in our written Application and to which Kenya has offered no credible response in its
written pleadings or yesterday .29
31. Article 282 provides as follows:
“If the States Parties which are parties to a dispute concerning the interpretation
or application of this Convention have agreed, through a general, regional or bilateral
agreement or otherwise, that such dispute shall, at the request of any party to the
dispute, be submitted to a procedure that entails a binding decision, that procedure
shall apply in lieu of the procedures provided for in this Part, unless the parties to the
dispute otherwise agree.”
32. Many leading commentators have repeatedly confirmed that Article 282 has the effect of
ensuring that the jurisdiction established by convergent Optional Clause declarations takes
precedence over the dispute settlement procedures contained in Part XV of UNCLOS.
33. For example in his recent textbook on the International Law of the Sea, Professor Tanaka
confirmed:
“There appears to be little doubt that the optional clause under Article 36 (2) of
the Statute of the ICJ is ‘a procedure that entails a binding decision’ set out in
Article 282. It would seem to follow that between two States which have accepted the
12See para. 5 of Somalia’s Application, which emphasized that: “The jurisdiction of the Court under Article 36,
paragraph 2, of its Statute, is underscored by Article 282 of UNCLOS . . .” - 64 -
optional clause, the jurisdiction of the ICJ prevails over procedures under Part XV of
130
[UNCLOS] by virtue of Article 282.”
34. Professor Treves too concurs with that analysis. As he put it: “[T]he acceptance by all
parties to a dispute of the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction, under Article 36, paragraph 2 of the
Court’s Statute, can be considered the ‘agreement’ mentioned in Article 282.” And he continues,
“the consensual aspect which seems to be the fundamental requirement of Article 36,
paragraph 2 undoubtedly exists, so that it is reasonable to conclude that the parties have agreed
‘otherwise’”. Accordingly, Professor Treves states that whenever both parties to a dispute have
accepted the Optional Clause, ITLOS “should declare that it has no jurisdiction” over the dispute as
131
a consequence of the operation of Article 282 .
35. And Judge P.C. Rao confirms this understanding of the relationship between Part XV of
UNCLOS and Article 36 (2) of the Statute of the Court: He writes: “The agreement referred to in
Art. 282 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea may be recorded ‘otherwise’, for
132
example, through separate declarations, such as declarations made under Art. 36 (2) ICJ Statute” .
36. These authorities are fully consistent with the UNCLOS Commentary which we cited in
our Written Statement. The authoritative commentary quoted at paragraph 3.83 of our statement
explains:
“Article 282 mentions that an agreement to submit a dispute to a specified
procedure may be reached ‘otherwise’. This reference was meant to include, in
particular, the acceptances of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice by133
declarations made under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of that Court.”
37. And this has also been the view of Professor Boyle, at least until yesterday. In his article
dealing with Article 282, which was published in 1999, he wrote: “Thus, two states which have
made declarations in similar terms under Article 36 (2) of the ICJ Statute will remain subject to the
134
compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ even in the LOS Convention cases.”
130
Y. Tanaka, The International Law of the Sea (Cambridge University Publishing, 2nd Ed., 2015), pp. 423-424.
131
T. Treves, Conflicts between the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Court of
Justice, New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Vol. 31, Issue 4 (Summer 1999) 809.
132
P. C. Rao, “Law of the Sea, Settlement of Disputes”, Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law,
para. 11.
133M. H. Nordquist, S. Nandan & S. Rosenne (eds.), United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, A
Commentary, Vol. V (1989), pp. 26-27.
134A. E. Boyle, “Problems of Compulsory Jurisdiction and the Settlement of Disputes Relating to Straddling Fish
Stocks”, International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, Vol. 14, Issue 1 (1999), p. 7. - 65 -
38. This view seems to have been abandoned yesterday.
39. Professor Boyle began his new approach by accepting, correctly, that if two States
entered “identical” Optional Clause declarations then, “Article 282 would ensure that these
135
Optional Clause declarations prevail over any alternative UNCLOS Part XV procedure” .
Professor Boyle’s hypothetical example rightly recognized that the Parties to UNCLOS intended
the Court’s jurisdiction under the Optional Clause to trump the other methods of dispute resolution
set out in Part XV.
40. Professor Boyle proceeded to attempt to distinguish the present case from a case where
there are “identical” Optional Clause declarations, and that is where, with the greatest respect, we
say he fell into error. He says that Kenya’s reservation means there are no “matching” Optional
Clause declarations between the Parties, and therefore “the conditions stated in Article 282 are not
met” .36
41. It is not clear to us whether in making this argument, Professor Boyle now suggests that
jurisdiction will only exist where Optional Clause declarations are identically worded. If so, that is
very obviously wrong, as this Court has long ruled.
42. To bring the case within Kenya’s reservation, Kenya has to establish that by signing
UNCLOS the two Parties agreed to submit their maritime boundary dispute to the settlement
procedures contained in Part XV. However, while Part XV of UNCLOS does establish dispute
resolution, procedures as you know, it contains a specific exception in Article 282 where States
have agreed that a dispute shall be submitted to some other procedure that entails a binding
decision. As we have seen, that exception in Part XV is widely accepted to include situations
where both States have entered Optional Clause declarations. Accordingly, in order to persuade
you, this Court, that you lack jurisdiction under the Optional Clause, Kenya is now forced to rely
on a treaty UNCLOS itself that contains a deliberate renvoi back to the Optional Clause, and
which deliberately defers to jurisdiction under the Optional Clause. Kenya now argues that
13CR 2016/10, p. 54, para. 7 (Boyle).
13CR 2016/10, p. 55, para. 9 (Boyle). - 66 -
UNCLOS engages its reservation while simultaneously relying on its reservation to exclude a
provision of UNCLOS.
43. One might call this a sort of theory of double renvoi we might also call it double
bootstraps a sort of game of endless ping pong back and forth between the two instruments. But
the essential idea is that each instrument extinguishes the other. The argument certainly has a
quality that is dizzying, but perhaps not in the way it was intended.
44. In the present case, there can be no doubt that both conditions established by Article 282
of UNCLOS are met. The first condition that the Parties have agreed to submit their dispute to a
procedure that entails a binding settlement is met by virtue of the converging Optional Clause
declarations of Kenya and Somalia. The second condition that the body selected by the Parties
must have power to interpret and apply UNCLOS in order to resolve the dispute is also
undoubtedly satisfied. This Court has jurisdiction to interpret and apply UNCLOS. Indeed, that is
a function it has found no difficulty in fulfilling in many recent cases . Somalia and Kenya have
both ratified UNCLOS and are therefore bound by its provisions vis-à-vis one another. Somalia’s
Application expressly states that, “[t]he law applicable to this dispute is the 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea” . The Application explicitly requests the Court to determine
139
the disputed maritime boundary by applying Articles 15, 74 and 83 of UNCLOS . So Somalia’s
Application falls squarely within Article 282.
V. Kenya’s “unclean hands” objection to the admissibility
of Somalia’s Application
45. Lastly, I turn to Kenya’s unhappy attempt to invoke as an admissibility argument the
doctrine of “unclean hands” against Somalia. In its Preliminary Objections Kenya objected loudly
to the steps that Somalia had previously taken in relation to Kenya’s CLCS submission, and
complained that Somalia had breached the MOU by seeking to resolve the issue of delimitation
before the CLCS has delineated the outer continental shelf. Kenya claimed that this rendered
13See, for example, Maritime Dispute (Peru v. Chile), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2014, p. 3; Territorial and
Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2012 (II), p. 624; Maritime Delimitation in the
Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2009, p. 61.
138
Somalia’s Application, para. 3.
139
Somalia’s Application, paras. 18 and 33. - 67 -
Somalia’s Application inadmissible. Kenya advanced this argument half-heartedly in its written
pleadings just four terse paragraphs at the end of its written submission. Yesterday it received no
more than an oblique, passing reference, if it can be called even that, in the oral submissions . 140
46. We understand why Kenya has gone light on this argument and said nothing about it
yesterday, it is manifestly wrong. First, it is based on the same erroneous conflation of delimitation
and delineation that permeates the entirety of Kenya’s Preliminary Objections. Second, Somalia is
not seeking to invoke the MOU as the basis for the Court’s jurisdiction: even if Somalia were in
breach of the MOU which it is not this would not preclude Somalia from invoking its entirely
separate rights under Article 36 (2) of the Statute. Third, there is no precedent for applying the
“unclean hands” doctrine in proceedings between States. On every occasion when the Court has
been invited to apply the doctrine, it has declined to do so. As noted in the latest edition of
Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law a text, I would add, that admirably reflects
the spirit and approach of the distinguished author of earlier editions “The International Court
has never applied the doctrine, even in cases where it might have done so.” 141 And fourth,
regardless of whether it could ever be applied in the context of an inter-State case, the Court’s case
law confirms that accusations of bad faith of the type levelled against Somalia cannot bar the
admissibility of an Application . 142
47. In any event, Kenya’s allegations are unfounded in fact. Somalia’s objection to Kenya’s
CLCS submission was a reasonable measure in the circumstance; it was taken as a last resort in
response to Kenya’s persistent and unjustified assertion of a parallel boundary claim and its
persistent and unjustified unilateral activities in the disputed area; these jeopardized and hampered
the possibility of reaching a final agreement, contrary to Articles 74 (3) and 83 (3) of UNCLOS.
Somalia acted reasonably in the face of Kenya’s unilateral conduct: it came to this Court. There is
14Professor Akhavan stated that, “if the parties agree to a method of settlement, then they must perform their
obligations in good faith. That alone renders Somalia’s case inadmissible.” (CR 2016/10, p. 22, para. 22 (Akhavan).)
However in his opening remarks, Professor Akhavan appeared to disavow any argument based on the admissibility of
Somalia’s Application, focusing instead exclusively on the issue of the Court’s jurisdiction in respect of the dispute:
“The only question before the Court is whether the maritime boundary dispute between Kenya and Somalia falls within
its jurisdiction.” (CR 2016/10, p. 16, para. 3 (Akhavan).)
14J. Crawford (ed.), Brownlie’s Principles of Public International Law, Eighth Edition, 2012, p. 701, fn. 66.
14See Avena and Other Mexican Nationals (Mexico v. United States of America), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports
2004 (I), p. 38, para. 47: “Even if it were shown . . . that Mexico’s practice as regards the application of Article 36 was
not beyond reproach, this would not constitute a ground of objection to the admissibility of Mexico’s claim.” - 68 -
no more reasonable act one could imagine. After Somalia’s objection to the CLCS, it was
withdrawn and Kenya’s submission is now before the CLCS, without any real delay. Kenya has
not been prejudiced in any way; the door to this Court, we say, cannot be shut.
Conclusion
48. Monsieur le président, Members of the Court, we hope you will see Kenya’s Preliminary
Objections for what they truly are: an effort to prolong an unjust and unprincipled status quo. To
foreclose judicial determination of this dispute, Kenya calls for endless, pointless negotiations. It
relies on an MOU that has nothing to do with delimitation. It attempts to bolster those submissions
with two subsidiary arguments that are manifestly hopeless.
49. There is, of course, here a certain irony: it is Kenya that invokes endless negotiations
and allegations of bad faith to exclude a realistic possibility of a resolution to this dispute and, in so
doing, it has to be said, it seems to be willing to sacrifice you, the Court, depriving you of a
meaningful role in resolving this maritime boundary dispute and, by consequence, many other
maritime boundary disputes and possibly many other disputes. The outcome Kenya seeks is not
justified in law and, in policy, it would have nefarious practical consequences. This Court offers
the hope of an end to uncertainty and, with it, the tantalizing prospect of less instability in a region
that craves progress. This Court has jurisdiction, and we trust you will exercise it. With this, I
close Somalia’s first round and, on behalf of my distinguished Agents, thank you very much, Sirs,
for your kind attention.
Le PRESIDENT : Merci, Monsieur le professeur. Ceci met fin à l’audience d’aujourd’hui et
clôt le premier tour des plaidoiries. La Cour se réunira à nouveau demain, mercredi 21, à 16 h 30,
pour entendre le Kenya en son second tour de plaidoiries. A l’issue de l’audience, le Kenya
présentera ses conclusions finales.
La Somalie prendra, pour sa part, la parole le vendredi 23, à 10 heures, pour son second tour
de plaidoiries. A la fin de l’audience, elle présentera à son tour ses conclusions finales.
Je rappellerai que, conformément au paragraphe 1 de l’article 60 du Règlement de la Cour,
les exposés oraux devront être aussi succincts que possible. J’ajouterai que le second tour de
plaidoiries a pour objet de permettre à chacune des Parties de répondre aux arguments avancés - 69 -
oralement par l’autre Partie ou aux questions posées par les juges. Le second tour ne doit donc pas
constituer une répétition des présentations déjà faites par les Parties, lesquelles ne sont, au
demeurant, pas tenues d’utiliser l’intégralité du temps de parole qui leur est alloué.
Je vous remercie. L’audience est levée.
L’audience est levée à 13 h 5.
___________
Audience publique tenue le mardi 20 septembre 2016, à 10 heures, au Palais de la Paix, sous la présidence de M. Abraham, président, en l'affaire relative à la Délimitation maritime dans l'océan Indien (Somalie c. Kenya) - Exceptions préliminaires