With the aim of settling the maritime disputes between Nicaragua and Colombiathe oral hearings of both countries began on Monday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
These hearings are related to the “delimitation of the continental shelf” between the two nations, “beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan coast,” according to the presentation of the process by the Court, last October.
Carlos Argüello, Nicaragua’s main representative before The Hague, opened the discussion by recalling that, in the hearing on May 1, 2012, Managua asked the Court to establish “a limit that divides in equal parts the rights that overlap on the continental plate from both sides”.
Consequently, according to Argüello, the highest court declared in its decision of November 19, 2012 that it was not in a position to proceed as requested by Nicaragua, in particular since it had only presented preliminary information to the Commission for the Limits of the Plate. Continental (CLCS) and that there was no need to examine other legal aspects.
Nicaragua complied with its obligation by presenting the necessary information, Argüello stated, for which reason the Court took note of this in its 2016 ruling and considered that the condition in which the final decision on the delimitation of the continental plate between the two parties was issued it was satisfactory.
However, the Nicaraguan representative stressed that Colombia has changed its position” and currently accepts only paragraph 1 of article 76, which reflects customary international law. This indicates, corresponding to what the Court itself has stated, that paragraph 1 is also a rule of customary international law.
“Colombia now appears to claim that only part of paragraph 1, the part that first defines the 2,000 nautical mile limit, corresponds to customary law, and that the reference to natural prolongation in that paragraph is a treaty obligation applicable to the parties to the convention. This is a unique position,” Argüello said.
Colombian reactions
Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán, who accompanied the defense team of the Colombian State, and who attended the International Court of Justice for the first round of oral arguments, considered on his social networks that the agents and advisors “are first class.”
“Reason and the law accompanies us”, wrote the official, on his Twitter account
For her part, the co-agent, lawyer and ambassador of Colombia to the Netherlands, Carolina Olarte Bácares, at the exit of the hearing, stated that they have listened to the first session and that they are “focused, finishing preparing and adjusting” the presentation, which it will take place tomorrow, again before the Court, according to the Colombian Foreign Ministry.
Likewise, co-agent Elizabeth Taylor Jay, also according to Bogotá, pointed out that “the work team has been exhaustively preparing” the arguments, “since the court order was issued on October 4.”
He also said that the team is calm with the work done so far and that it is made up of great international jurists and a great national team that has worked uninterruptedly on all the details.
Both Colombia and Nicaragua will respond before the court for two key issues: the criteria defined by international law to determine the delimitation of the territorial sea, beyond 200 nautical miles from a country, and the determination of baselines, based on which the territorial sea is measured, beyond the 200 miles claimed by Nicaragua.
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