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Global Court affirms Somalia’s case, throws out Kenya’s objections in maritime dispute

Storyline:National News
The President of the Court, H.E. Judge Ronny Abraham, on 5 October 2016.  The Court  voted for admissibility of the case and affirmed its jurisdiction over the maritime case between Kenya and Somalia Photo: ICJ

The International Court of Justice has overwhelmingly endorsed Somalia’s quest to seek the global Court’s intervention in the maritime case it filed in 2014 dashing Kenya’s hopes of a bilateral settlement.

In a majority vote, 13 judges affirmed the Court’s jurisdiction and admissibility of the case. Only three judges filed a dissenting opinion.

Similarly, a majority vote of 15 to 1 rejected Kenya’s preliminary objections based on part 15 of the UN Convention in the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS while a similar vote rejected Kenya’s second preliminary objection.

The Court however did not entertain Somalia’s argument against the validity of the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding noting that the ‘the Court is satisfied as a matter of international law the minister (then foreign affairs minister Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame) duly signed the MoU on behalf of Somalia.

The Court however observed that the fact that Somalia may have breached the terms of the MoU as argued by Kenya by proceeding to seeking the Court’s intervention despite having resorted to an alternative means in form of the MoU does not make the case inadmissible.

Kenya’s preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the Court must therefore be rejected, the presiding judge and president of the Court Ronny Abraham affirmed.