Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) - Conclusion of the public hearings - Court to begin its deliberation

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. 2012/17
9 May 2012

Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia)
Conclusion of the public hearings

Court to begin its deliberation

THE HAGUE, 9 May 2012. The public hearings in the case concerning the Territorial and
Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) were concluded on Friday 4 May. The Court will now
begin its deliberation.

During the hearings, which opened on Monday 23April2012 at the Peace Palace, seat
of the Court, the delegation of th e Republic 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 the Republic of
Colombia was led by H.E.Mr.JulioLondoño Paredes, Professor of International Relations,

Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, as Agent and Counsel.

The Court’s Judgment will be rendered at a public sitting, the date of which will be
announced in due course.

Final submissions of the Parties

At the end of the oral proceedings, the Par ties presented the following final submissions to
the Court:

For the Republic of Nicaragua:

“In accordance with article 60 of the Rules of the Court and having regard to the pleadings,
written and oral . . .

I. May it please the Court to adjudge and declare that:

(1) The Republic of Nicaragua has sovereignty ove r all maritime features off her Caribbean coast
not proven to be part of the ‘San Andrés Archipelago’ and in particular the following cays: the
Cayos de Albuquerque; the Cayos del Este Sude ste; the Cay of Roncador; North Cay,

Southwest Cay and any other cays on the bank of Serrana; East Cay, Beacon Cay and any
other cays on the bank of Serranilla; and Low Cay and any other cays on the bank of Bajo
Nuevo. - 2 -

(2) If the Court were to find that there are features on the bank of Quitasueño that qualify as islands
under international law, the Court is requested to find that sovereignty over such features rests

with Nicaragua.

(3) The appropriate form of delimitation, within the geographical and legal framework constituted
by the mainland coasts of Nicaragua and Colombia, is a continental shelf boundary dividing by

equal parts the overlapping entitlements to a continental shelf of both Parties.

(4) The islands of San Andrés and Providencia (and Santa Catalina) be enclaved and accorded a
maritime entitlement of 12 nautical miles, this being the appropriate equitable solution justified

by the geographical and legal framework.

(5)The equitable solution for any cay, that might be found to be Colombian, is to delimit a
maritime boundary by drawing a 3-nautical-mile enclave around them.”

II. Further, the Court is requested to adjudge and declare that:

⎯ Colombia is not acting in accordance with her obligations under international law by stopping

and otherwise hindering Nicaragua from accessing and disposing of her natural resources to the
east of the 82nd meridian.”

For the Republic of Colombia:

“In accordance with Article 60 of the Rules of Court, for the reasons set out in Colombia’s
written and oral pleadings, taking into account the Judgment on Preliminary Objections and

rejecting any contrary submissions of Nicaragua , Colombia requests the Court to adjudge and
declare:

(a)That Nicaragua’s new continental shelf clai m is inadmissible and that, consequently,

Nicaragua’s Submission I (3) is rejected.

(b) That Colombia has sovereignty over all the mar itime features in dispute between the Parties:
Alburquerque, East-Southeast, Roncador, Serrana, Quitasueño, Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo, and
all their appurtenant features, which form part of the Archipelago of San Andrés.

(c)That the delimitation of the exclusive econom ic zone and the continental shelf between
Nicaragua and Colombia is to be effected by a single maritime boundary, being the median line
every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the

breadth of the territorial seas of the Parties is measured, as depicted on the map attached to
these submissions.

(d) That Nicaragua’s written Submission II is rejected.”

*

Internal Judicial Practice of the Court with respect to deliberations

Deliberations take place in private in accord ance with the following procedure: the Court
first holds a preliminary discussion, during which the President outlines the issues which require
discussion and decision by the Court. Each judge then prepares a written Note setting out his or - 3 -

her views on the case. Each Note is distributed to the other judges. A full deliberation is then held,
at the end of which, on the basis of the views expressed, a drafting committee is chosen by secret

ballot. That committee consists in principle of tw o judges holding the majority view of the Court,
together with the President, unless it appears that his views are in the minority. The committee
prepares a draft text, which is first the subjectof written amendments and then goes through two
readings. In the meantime, judges who wish to do so may prepare a declaration, a separate opinion

or a dissenting opinion. The final vote is taken after adoption of the final text of the Judgment at
the second reading.

___________

Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents. The complete

verbatim records of the hearings held from 23 Ap ril to 4 May 2012 are published on the website of
the Court (www.icj-cij.org).

___________

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

It was established by the United Nations Char ter in June1945 and began its activities in
April1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six
principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a
twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by

States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and,
second, to give advisory opinions on legal questi ons referred to it by duly authorized United
Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15judges elected for a
nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. It is

assisted by a Registry, its international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic,
as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English.

The ICJ, a court open only to States for cont entious proceedings, and to certain organs and

institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the
other ⎯ mostly criminal ⎯ judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the

Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal
court established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial body composed of Lebanese and international
judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal an d does not form part of the Lebanese judicial

system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an institution founded in 1899, which is
independent of the United Nations).

___________

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)