Belize Urges ICJ to Fast-Track Border Hearings

Belize’s legal team is making an assertive case before the World Court, hearings on two territorial disputes should be held back-to-back. Why? Because both cases, the long-standing Guatemala claim and Honduras’ late assertion over the Sapodilla Cayes, are deeply connected. Interestingly, Honduras didn’t even raise its claim until 1981, after the Heads of Agreement talks collapsed. And since then, the claim sat dormant for decades. Honduras could have intervened in the Guatemala-Belize case but chose not to. So, what does this mean for Belize’s strategy? Could a coordinated hearing strengthen Belize’s position, or complicate matters if overlapping arguments blur the lines? And what about Honduras’ push for traditional fishing rights, does that open a new front in the dispute? We look at the common ground, the sticking points, and the big question: Will the ICJ’s approach deliver the ‘complete resolution’ Belize is fighting for?

 

Ben Juratowitch, KC, Legal Counsel, Belize

“It would be sensible for the court to hold the hearings on the merits in the two cases back to back on the bases that Belize and Guatemala agree that the court would hear and resolve the merits of both disputes in a way that allows its deliberations in each of them to overlap. Belize does not object to Guatemala’s application. The second point of common ground is that Honduras did not make known its claim to the Sapodillas until 1981. That was when it became aware of the Heads of Agreement which contemplated discussions aimed at a compromised resolution of a broader dispute between the United Kingdom and Guatemala concerning the territory of Belize and which ultimately failed. The third point is that having made a claim in 1981, Honduras then left it dormant. The fourth point is this, Honduras could have applied to intervene in Guatemala/Belize, but elected not to do so. It is undisputed, as between the three states, that there is no impediment to the complete resolution of all of Guatemala’s claims against Belize. Those are the points of common ground between Belize and Guatemala’s submissions of yesterday. The next issue concerns two matters that Guatemala identified yesterday on which it said that it would not have a chance to comment unless its intervention were permitted. The first is the Honduran claim to traditional fishing rights.”