Neither sovereignty nor water, what Nicaragua is claiming from Colombia before The Hague

Over the next two weeks, a team of international and Colombian lawyers will listen to Nicaragua’s lawsuits and complaints against the country. Likewise, they will present the counterclaims to refute the charges and accuse the Central American government of violating the rights of the Raizal de San Andrés community.

This new case concerns Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Colombia), according to the title given by the International Court of Justice when the case opened in 2013. This is not a request to change the maritime borders between the two countries, but rather to comply with the 2012 ruling that Colombia lost 40% of the territory it held in this area.

Nicaragua alleges an alleged threat of use of force by Colombia as a violation of the Maritime Boundary Decision. In its request, the Central American country asked the Court to rule and declare that Colombia had breached several of its international obligations and that it was obliged to fully repair the damage caused by their illegal acts.

After making exceptions to the jurisdiction of the ICJ in this process, which were dismissed, Colombia submitted its counterclaim in 2016. Two of the complaints were dismissed and two others accepted: The alleged violation by Nicaragua of the rights of the community of San Andrés for artisanal fishing and the publication of a decree in this country to extend maritime rights beyond what is permitted by international law.

It is in this context that the parties were ordered to comply with the oral hearing procedure, which will begin this September 20 and will run for two weeks. The first part and the presentation of written arguments were completed in 2019.

What are the audiences?

the agent of Colombia before The Hague, Carlos Gustavo ArrietaHe explained that during this first day Nicaraguan lawyers will be heard. “We are waiting for you to come up with all kinds of rants about the issues, accusations of violations, accusations that we do not respect the ruling, we do not respect your rights.. Today is the day to listen to Nicaragua. It’s normal, ”he said.

“Then we’re going to do a very rigorous analysis of all the adjustments he made, to what we already know, from what Nicaragua said at the written stage. We will refine the arguments, by Wednesday we will respond to Nicaragua and present the counterclaims that Colombia has brought against Nicaragua, including the one relating to the recognition and violation of the fishing rights of the Raizal community and the decree by which Nicaragua unilaterally appropriates a Caribbean Zone», Explained co-agent Manuel José Cepeda.

After the presentation of Colombia’s arguments and complaints, a process of debate will begin in which each country will have the opportunity to speak twice in court, Nicaragua present and Colombia responds. Then there will be a second part in which Colombia will present its counterclaims and Nicaragua will respond to them, in the same dynamic.

“We are ready. We have been preparing for a long time, indeed we have very solid arguments. The truth is that we have a strong team that has been working on this for three years, we have identified all the facts that Nicaragua has raised as possible violations by Colombia of international law.We have sufficient evidence to refute them and we have very strong legal arguments regarding the rights that Colombia intends to assert, ”Agent Arrieta said.

He and Cepeda are accompanied by a team of foreign lawyers who are experts in international law. It is part of the defense Rodman Bundy, an American who has been accompanying the process since the case of the limits in the Caribbean Sea. Eduardo Valencia Ospina, former secretary of the International Court of Justice and member of the UN International Law Commission, according to the newspaper El Espectador.

They follow Michael reisman, International Law Advisor and Fellow of the United States Institute of International Law; Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, the only woman on the team, a Franco-Swiss specialist in international law who has pleaded in multiple cases around the world; Sir Michael Wood, member of the United Nations International Law Commission. Ultimately Jean-Marc Thouvenin, also French, who pleaded in several territorial disputes in Europe.

“In this case, neither the terrain nor sovereignty is at stake, none of that. In this case, an alleged violation of sovereign rights by Colombia is the subject of a debate on which we say it makes no sense, that Colombia acts in the development zone of the powers conferred on it by international law. There is no land here, there is no water, there is no sovereignty at stake ”, finally underlined the agent Arrieta.

The hearings will last two weeks, but The Hague’s decision takes between six months and a year to be rendered, so the end of the process, which is already more than seven years old, could be extended until mid-2022.

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