ICJ releases timetable for maritime border case between Kenya and Somalia
HAGUE – The International Court of Justice [ICJ] has released a timetable for the hearing of the maritime border case at the Indian Ocean involving Kenya and Somalia, which is expected to begin on Monday 15 May 2021 in The Hague in the Netherlands after months of postponement.
According to the schedule, the case will run for six days until Wednesday, March 24, when each party will have ample time to argue their position. Somalia will be the first to argue the case two days in a row as it is the complainant in the case.
Then Kenya gets a chance to defend itself for two more consecutive days. In the final processes, both countries are given final submissions every day if relations between the two nations are strained.
“The International Court of Justice, the main judicial body of the United Nations, is holding public hearings in the case of maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean [Somalia v. Kenya] from Monday 15 to Wednesday 24 March 2021 in the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the court, “reads the dispatch from ICJ.
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the hearings will be held in hybrid format. The COVID-19 pandemic informed Kenya of its decision to call for a postponement, but the ICJ refused to grant the search early this year after postponing the case three times before.
“Some members of the Court will participate personally in the oral proceedings in the Great Hall of Justice, while others will participate externally via video link. Representatives of the parties to the case will participate either in person or via video link,” the ICJ said.
Guidelines for the parties on the organization of hearings via video link can be found on the Court’s website. Members of the diplomatic corps, the media and the public will be able to follow the hearings through a live webcast on the Court’s website, as well as on UN web TV. United Nations online television, ”it added.
Somalia and Kenya are fighting over the oil-rich maritime border, but efforts to get the case settled out of court could not be realized. Both countries are optimistic about possible victories at the International Court of Justice.
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