Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) - Proceedings on whether to grant Honduras's application for permission to intervene - Conclusion of the public hearings; Court to begin its de

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org

Press Release
Unofficial

No. 2010/34
22 October 2010

Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia)

Proceedings on whether to grant Honduras’s application for permission to intervene

Conclusion of the public hearings; Court to begin its deliberation

THE HAGUE, 22October2010. The public hearings on whether to grant Honduras’s
application for permission to intervene in the case concerning the Territorial and Maritime Dispute

(Nicaragua v. Colombia) were concluded today. The Court will now begin its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on Monday 18 October 2010 at the Peace Palace, seat of
the Court, the delegation of Honduras was led by H.E. Mr. Carlos López Contreras, Ambassador,
National Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Agent; the delegation of Nicaragua was led
by H.E. Mr. Carlos José Argüello Gómez, Ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua to the

Kingdom of the Netherlands, as Agent and Counse l; and the delegation of Colombia was led by
H.E. Mr. Julio Londoño Paredes, Professor of International Relations, Universidad del Rosario,
Bogotá, as Agent.

The Court’s decision on whether to grant Honduras’s application to intervene will be

delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course.

Submissions of Honduras and of the Parties

At the end of the hearings, the Agents of Honduras and of the Parties presented the following

submissions to the Court:

HFonrduras:

“Having regard to the Application and the oral pleadings,

May it please the Court to permit Honduras:

(1) to intervene as a party in respect of its interests of a legal nature in the area of concern in the
Caribbean Sea (paragraph17 of the Application) which may be affected by the decision of
the Court; or

(2) in the alternative, to intervene as a non-party with respect to those interests.” - 2 -

NFiorragua:

“In accordance with Article60 of the Rules of the Court and having regard to the
Application for permission to intervene filed by the Republic of Honduras and its oral pleadings,
the Republic of Nicaragua respectfully submits that:

The Application filed by the Republic of Honduras is a manifest challenge to the authority of
the res judicata of your 8th of October 2007 Judgment. Moreover, Honduras has failed to comply
with the requirements established by the Statute and the Rules of the Court, namely, Article 62, and
paragraph 2, (a) and (b) , of Article81 respectively, and therefore Nicaragua (1)opposes the

granting of such permission, and (2) requests that the Court dismiss the Application for permission
to intervene filed by Honduras.”

For Colombia:

“In light of the considerations stated during these proceedings, my Government wishes to
reiterate what it stated in the Written Observations it submitted to the Court, to the effect that, in
Colombia’s view, Honduras has satisfied the requirements of Article62 of the Statute and,

consequently, that Colombia does not object to Honduras’s request for permission to intervene in
the present case as a non-party. As concerns Hondur as’s request to be permitted to intervene as a
Party, Colombia likewise reiterates that it is a matt er for the Court to decide in conformity with
Article 62 of the Statute.”

___________

The verbatim records of the hearings held between 18 and 22 October 2010 are available on
the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).

___________

Information Department:

Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)

Ms Joanne Moore, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Ms Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)