Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos requested that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) overturn a lawsuit claiming that Colombia must cede 200 nautical miles of territorial waters to Nicaragua.
President Santos declared that the September 16, 2013 lawsuit filed by Nicaragua was declared without jurisdiction and that its demands were unacceptable, according to a statement.
“Nicaragua now intends to claim an allegedly extended continental shelf. Colombia argues that this demand is unacceptable,” said the Colombian head of state.
The president went on to announce the filing of a counter-suit with the ICJ against Nicaragua.
“Today, Colombia stands before the International Court of Justice with a written request known as ‘preliminary objections,’ asking the Court to declare incompetence in hearing the case brought against our country by Nicaragua on September 16 last year,” said Santos.
In November 2012, Colombia lost a lawsuit to Nicaragua that granted 30,000 square miles Colombian territorial waters to Nicaragua.
MORE: Colombia may come to regret withdrawal from international treaty, International Court
Colombia then renounced the 1948 Pact of Bogota, also known as the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement, in protest of the 2012 ICJ ruling granting Nicaragua maritime rights to waters previously belonging to the Colombian state, some of which are thought to include lucrative offshore oil and natural gas reserves.
In 2013, Nicaragua filed a second suit, which is what the Colombian president is currently protesting.
MORE: Nicaragua files new lawsuit against Colombia to define maritime border
Sources
- Colombia pide a la CIJ declararse sin competencia para conocer demanda interpuesta por Nicaragua (Office of the Presidency)