Somalia delivers closing arguments in maritime border dispute
THE HAAG, The Netherlands – Somalia asked the United Nations Supreme Court to overturn Kenya’s request for a latitude maritime border stretching into the Indian Ocean in a decades-old legal dispute between the two East African nations.
Kenya abruptly withdrew from the case, days before they were due to start on Monday, claiming that the International Court of Justice was biased in refusing to grant a fourth request to postpone the hearings.
Somali, which brought the case to The Hague-based ICJ, pushed further, arguing that Nairobi’s request for control of a 40,000-square-kilometer oil and gas-rich sea was unfair and out of step with maritime norms.
“Maybe not be allowed to replace legal law,” argued lawyer Lawrence H. Martin on behalf of Somalia and seemed virtual. His client is dwarf of both population and gross domestic product of his southern neighbor.
Hearings opened Monday and continued as scheduled Tuesday. Kenya was scheduled to hold its presentation on Thursday and Friday, with both parties making final statements next week.
Instead, Mohamed Omar Ibrahim, senior adviser to Somalia’s president, made his country’s closing remarks on Thursday.
“We are in your trusted hands. We have a lot at stake in this procedure. But we will await your decision with equilibrium because we have full confidence that your justice and your wisdom will lead you to a fair judgment, ”Ibrahim told the ICJ judges.
Somalia brought the dispute to the UN Supreme Court in 2014 after diplomatic talks failed. It claims that its maritime border should continue in the same direction as the land border, but Kenya argues that the border should run in a straight line in the longitudinal direction.
Nairobi twice asked the court in 2019 to postpone arguments in the case so it could replace its legal team. It then requested a new delay in 2020 due to the Covid-19 crisis and requested that the current set of hearings also be delayed due to the pandemic. When this was denied, Kenya withdrew.
According to court rulings, proceedings can only be stopped if Kenya withdraws completely from the court, which it has not indicated it will do. The country participated in 2016 hearings on jurisdiction, and the court ruled in 2017 that it has the authority to deal with the dispute.
Somalia’s government delegation appeared in person at the Great Hall of Justice in The Hague, although its legal team mostly appeared virtually.
Somalia argued that the court should apply the so-called three-step method when making its decision, the standard for maritime border disputes. The process first involves drawing a line that takes into account geographic features and is geometrically objective, and then moving the line to achieve a “fair result” before verifying it.
“My job is an unusual, uncomplicated one,” Martin said at the beginning of his presentation. According to Somalia, there are no geographical markers, making a continuation of the country’s land border the simplest solution.
Somalia has experienced a civil war since the 1990s, in which several regimes have been overthrown by force. The country argued that it had no functioning government and no ability to politicize its border for much of this time. In December, Somalia severed diplomatic ties with its southern neighbor, claiming Kenya is interfering in the election.
A final decision in the case may take years after the appeal is filed.
.
