INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2022/49
11 October 2022
Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia) The Court decides that, at the forthcoming oral proceedings in the case, the Parties should present their arguments exclusively with regard to two questions
THE HAGUE, 11 October 2022. The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, decided, by an Order dated 4 October 2022, that, at the forthcoming oral proceedings in the case concerning Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia), the Parties should present their arguments exclusively with regard to two questions.
The Court stated that,
“in the circumstances of the case, before proceeding to any consideration of technical and scientific questions in relation to the delimitation of the continental shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Nicaragua is measured, the Court considers it necessary to decide on certain questions of law, after hearing the Parties thereon”.
By its Order, the Court decided that,
“at the forthcoming oral proceedings in the case, the Republic of Nicaragua and the Republic of Colombia shall present their arguments exclusively with regard to the following two questions:
(1) Under customary international law, may a State’s entitlement to a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of its territorial sea is measured extend within 200 nautical miles from the baselines of another State?
(2) What are the criteria under customary international law for the determination of the limit of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured and, in this regard, do paragraphs 2 to 6 of Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea reflect customary international law?”
The schedule for the upcoming public hearings will be announced in due course.
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Judges TOMKA, XUE, ROBINSON and NOLTE and Judge ad hoc SKOTNIKOV append a joint declaration to the Order of the Court; Judge ABRAHAM appends a declaration to the Order of the Court.
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The full text of the Order and declarations are available on the Court’s website.
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History of the proceedings
The history of the proceedings can be found in press releases Nos. 2013/21, 2014/29, 2015/26, 2016/9, 2016/14 and 2017/38, available on the Court’s website.
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Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.
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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 Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
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Information Department:
Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Ms Joanne Moore, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Mr. Avo Sevag Garabet, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Ms Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)
Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 Nautical Miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia) - The Court decides that, at the forthcoming oral proceedings in the case, the Parties should present their arguments exclusively with regard to two questions