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. 2014/27
28 August 2014
Somalia institutes proceedings against Kenya with regard to “a dispute
concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean”
THE HAGUE, 28 August 2014. Today the Federal Republic of Somalia (hereinafter
“Somalia”) instituted proceedings against the Republic of Kenya before the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, with regard to “a dispute
concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean”.
In its Application, which is accompanied by three sketch-maps, Somalia contends that both
States “disagree about the location of the maritime boundary in the area where their maritime
entitlements overlap”, and asserts that “[d]iplomatic negotiations, in which their respective views
have been fully exchanged, have failed to resolve this disagreement”.
Somalia requests the Court “to determine, on the basis of international law, the complete
course of the single maritime boundary dividing all the maritime areas appertaining to Somalia and
to Kenya in the Indian Ocean, including the continental shelf beyond 200 [nautical miles]”. The
Applicant further asks the Court “to determine the precise geographical co-ordinates of the single
maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean”.
In the view of the Applicant, the maritime boundary between the Parties in the territorial sea,
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf should be established in accordance with,
respectively, Articles 15, 74 and 83 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS). Somalia explains that, accordingly, the boundary line in the territorial sea “should be
a median line as specified in Article 15, since there are no special circumstances that would justify
departure from such a line” and that, in the EEZ and continental shelf, the boundary “should be
established according to the three-step process the Court has consistently employed in its
application of Articles 74 and 83”.
The Applicant asserts that “Kenya’s current position on the maritime boundary is that it
should be a straight line emanating from the Parties’ land boundary terminus, and extending due
east along the parallel of latitude on which the land boundary terminus sits, through the full extent
of the territorial sea, EEZ and continental shelf, including the continental shelf beyond
200 [nautical miles]”. - 2 -
Somalia finally indicates that it “reserves its rights to supplement or amend [its]
Application”.
*
As basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, the Applicant invokes the provisions of Article 36,
paragraph 2, of the Court’s Statute, referring to the declarations recognizing the Court’s jurisdiction
as compulsory made by Somalia on 11 April 1963 and by Kenya on 19 April 1965.
In addition, Somalia submits that “the jurisdiction of the Court under Article 36, paragraph 2,
of its Statute is underscored by Article 282 of UNCLOS”, which Somalia and Kenya both ratified
in 1989.
Article 282 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides that:
“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.”
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The full text of Somalia’s Application instituting proceedings (including the three
accompanying sketch-maps) will be available shortly on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org). It
can also be obtained by e-mail request to the Information Department: [email protected].
The full texts of the declarations recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory can
be found on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org), under the heading “Jurisdiction/Contentious
Jurisdiction/Declarations Recognizing the Jurisdiction of the Court as Compulsory”.
*
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in
April 1946. 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 questions referred to it by duly authorized United
Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a
nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.
Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international
secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official
languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only
court of a universal character with general jurisdiction. - 3 -
The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious 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 and does not form part of the Lebanese judicial
system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in
the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague
Convention of 1899).
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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)
Somalia institutes proceedings against Kenya with regard to “a dispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean”