Article Link: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-dismisses-nicaraguas-world-court-claims-over-maritime-boundaries-2021-09-22/
In 2012, Colombia and Nicaragua settled new borders within the western Caribbean, borders that favored Nicaragua and reduced Colombian control over the area. However, Nicaragua has filed a report to the International Court of Justice that accused Colombia of overstepping its bounds and encroaching upon Nicaragua’s authority in the Caribbean by crossing the demarcated lines established in 2012. In this agreement, both countries had acknowledged that these lines indicate the edge of where Nicaragua’s territory begins and that Nicaragua was entitled to the rich underwater gas and oil reserves and all fishing rights, giving Nicaragua a strong argument against Colombia in the court case. This Wednesday, Columbian lawyers refuted Nicaragua’s allegations and announced that their ships were in the disputed waters to uphold their responsibilities to protect environment and aid in anti-drug trafficking operations and therefore their presence was rightful under international laws. Both countries’ respective rebuttals are scheduled to take place on October 1, however, the International Court of Justice is in high demand and is often preoccupied in mediating disputes and compromises between states because it is the supreme legal body of the United Nations. On account of this, a final decision on the case between Colombia and Nicaragua is not expected for some time. In an overestimate, it could be years before the quarrel is dealt with.
Examining the claims from both Colombia and Nicaragua, I would be inclined to side with Nicaragua since it was made clear in the 2012 accord that Columbia had relinquished its right of its own will to the waters it ceded to Nicaragua. Nicaragua’s demands are also nothing drastic as it has only requested that Colombia ensure that another controversy such as this not happen again. Since there is the possibility that Nicaragua’s suspicion that Colombia was “cherry-picking” and intentionally only respecting the results of the territory settlements with Nicaragua that Colombia benefited from, such as the new islands that it gained dominion over, the ruling of this court case may be significant. Should Colombia be proved unreliable in following the rules of its treaties, its reputation in the international community will likely suffer, perhaps severely, and it might permanently affect its ability to negotiate over land or sea rights with its neighboring countries.
The United Nations is at the heart of international relations for many countries and is the largest IGO in the world. For its highest court to be involved in this dispute is, in my opinion, unnecessary because there is no real urgency within the situation as there are no lives at stake or impending wars so much as hurt feelings between both nations. Because of this, there are most probably more important cases that the ICJ could be focusing its attention on. The International Court of Justice also has no power to enforce its ruling, making the option of a negotiation between Nicaragua and Colombia with more concrete punishments for breaking the treaty more effective since Colombia would face more serious consequences and be more hesitant to push against Nicaragua’s boundaries again.