Territorial and Maritime Dispute

Abstract

International Court of Justice — Jurisdiction — Pact of Bogotá — Subject matter of dispute before Court — Preliminary objections — Examination by Court of issues linked to merits at preliminary objections stage — Decision of objection to jurisdiction at merits stage — Analysis of objections to jurisdiction in relation to various elements of a case — Whether Court’s jurisdiction precluded by a treaty settling dispute within meaning of Article VI of Pact of Bogotá — Whether 1928 Nicaragua–Colombia Treaty settled dispute concerning sovereignty over disputed maritime features — Whether 1928 Nicaragua–Colombia Treaty invalid — Exercise of coercion in relation to conclusion of a treaty — Whether 1928 Treaty in force in 1948 — Exact composition of San Andrés Archipelago — Whether 1928 Nicaragua–Colombia Treaty fixed boundary between Nicaragua and Colombia along 82nd meridian west of Greenwich — Whether jurisdiction under Article XXXI of Pact of Bogotá exclusive — Optional clause — ICJ Statute, Article 36(2)

International Court of Justice — Intervention — Requirements — Nature of intervention — Distinction between intervention as a party and as a non-party — Protection of third States’ interests in delimitation disputes — ICJ Statute, Article 62 — Interest of a legal nature — Whether interest of a legal nature affected by Court’s future judgment — Precise object of intervention — Prohibition to introduce new case by way of intervention — Whether consent to intervention a requirement for application for intervention to succeed — Burden of proof in relation to establishing existence of interest of a legal nature — Link between interest of a legal nature and main proceedings — Jurisdictional link in relation to intervention — Whether indication of maritime areas in which State having interest sufficient to prove existence of such interest — ICJ Statute, Article 59 — Relative effect of Court’s judgments — Whether 1986 Colombia–Honduras Treaty influencing extent of Colombia’s rights in delimitation vis-à-vis Nicaragua — Whether Court having discretion as to allow intervention — Whether “interest of a legal nature” and “right” distinct

Territory — Islands — Definition — Appropriation of islands under international law — Whether low-tide elevations capable of appropriation — Whether 1928 Nicaragua–Colombia Treaty disposing of issue of title over disputed maritime features — Exact composition of San Andrés Archipelago — Uti possidetis juris — Effectivités — Critical date — Establishment of sovereignty over small maritime features requiring only modest display of State powers — Acts à titre de souverain including variety of different actions by State — Whether Nicaragua recognizing Colombia’s sovereignty over disputed maritime features — Whether third States recognizing Colombia’s sovereignty over disputed maritime features — Limited probative value of maps

Sea — Maritime delimitation — Single maritime boundary — Applicable law — 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) — UNCLOS, Articles 74 and 83 — Customary international law — Nicaragua’s claim to delimitation beyond 200 nautical miles from its coast — Whether Nicaragua’s request for delimitation beyond 200 nautical miles changing subject matter of dispute — Admissibility of Nicaragua’s request for delimitation beyond 200 nautical miles — Connection between Nicaragua’s new claim and original claim in Application — Whether connection of general nature sufficient — UNCLOS, Article 76 — Overlapping maritime entitlements as precondition to delimitation — Whether Nicaragua proving continental margin extending beyond 200 nautical miles from its coast — Relevant coast — Relevant area — Maritime entitlement generated by disputed features — UNCLOS, Article 121 — Three-stage approach to maritime delimitation — Provisional equidistance line — Selection of base points — Relevant circumstances — Cut-off — Disparity in coastal length — Whether Colombian islands should be enclaved — Parties’ conduct — Security and law-enforcement factors — Access to natural resources — Presence of other agreed boundaries in delimitation area — Proportionality — Whether Nicaragua entitled to compensation for unjust enrichment stemming from Colombia’s administration of disputed features — Declaratory judgment