ICJ Postpones Kenya-Somalia Maritime Border Case

October 18: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has postponed the maritime border case between Somalia and Kenya to June 2020.

The Hague-based court has agreed to Kenya’s request for a one-year delay of the public hearings, after the east African country said it needed time to reconstitute its legal team.

The hearings were due to start on 4 November.

“The court has duly considered the views and arguments of the parties regarding Kenya’s request. It has decided to postpone oral proceedings to the week beginning on Monday 8, June, 2020. This postponement is granted on the understanding that both parties will be represented in the hearings and that no further postponement will be granted,” the court said in a statement.

The court had earlier this month summoned the governments of Somalia and Kenya to discuss the case over the maritime boundary dispute at the court.

Somalia took Kenya to court in 2015 over a disputed territory in the Indian Ocean that stretches for more than 100,000 sq km (62,137 sq miles) and which has off-shore oil and gas reserves.

Somalia wants the maritime border to continue along the line of the land border to the south-east, while Kenya wants the sea border to go in a straight line east.

Source: BBC Monitoring