THE HAGUE, 3 October 2014.
By an Order of 19 September 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has fixed 19 January 2015 as the time-limit within which the Republic of Nicaragua may present a written statement of its observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised by the Republic of Colombia on 14 August 2014 in the case concerning the Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia).
The subsequent procedure has been reserved for further decision. History of the proceedings: On 16 September 2013, the Republic of Nicaragua filed an Application instituting proceedings against the Republic of Colombia relating to a “dispute concern[ing] the delimitation of the boundaries between, on the one hand, the continental shelf of Nicaragua beyond the 200-nautical-mile limit from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Nicaragua is measured, and on the other hand, the continental shelf of Colombia”.
In its Application, Nicaragua requests the Court to “adjudge and declare . . . the precise course of the maritime boundary between Nicaragua and Colombia in the areas of the continental shelf which appertain to each of them beyond the boundaries determined by the Court in its Judgment of 19 November 2012” in the case concerning the Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia). The Applicant further requests the Court to state “[t]he principles and rules of international law that determine the rights and duties of the two States in relation to the area of overlapping continental shelf claims and the use of its resources, pending the delimitation of the maritime boundary between them beyond 200 nautical miles from Nicaragua’s coast”.
Nicaragua recalls that “the single maritime boundary between the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zones of Nicaragua and of Colombia within the 200-nautical-mile limit from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Nicaragua is measured was defined by the Court in paragraph 251 of its Judgment of 19 November 2012”.- 2 –
Nicaragua further recalls that “in that case it had sought a declaration from the Court
describing the course of the boundary of its continental shelf throughout the area of the overlap between its continental shelf entitlement and that of Colombia”, but that “the Court considered that Nicaragua had not then established that it has a continental margin that extends beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which its territorial sea is measured, and that [the Court] was therefore not then in a position to delimit the continental shelf as requested by Nicaragua”.
Nicaragua contends that the “final information” submitted by it to the Commission on the
Limits of the Continental Shelf on 24 June 2013 “demonstrates that Nicaragua’s continental margin extends more than 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of Nicaragua is measured, and both (i) traverses an area that lies more than 200 nautical miles from Colombia and also (ii) partly overlaps with an area that lies within 200 nautical miles of Colombia’s coast”. The Applicant moreover observes that the two States “have not agreed upon a maritime boundary between them in the area beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast of Nicaragua.
Further, Colombia has objected to continental shelf claims in that area”. Nicaragua bases the jurisdiction of the Court on Article XXXI of the Pact of Bogotá, to which “both Nicaragua and Colombia are Parties”. Nicaragua states that it has been “constrained
into taking action upon this matter rather sooner than later in the form of the present application” because “on 27 November 2012, Colombia gave notice that it denounced as of that date the Pact of Bogotá; and in accordance with Article LVI of the Pact, that denunciation will take effect after one year, so that the Pact remains in force for Colombia until 27 November 2013”.
In addition, Nicaragua contends that “the subject-matter of the present Application remains within the jurisdiction of the Court established in the case concerning the Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia), of which the Court was seised by the Application dated 6 December 2001, submitted by Nicaragua, in as much as the Court did not in its Judgment dated 19 November 2012 definitively determine the question of the delimitation of the continental shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia in the area beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan coast, which question was and remains before the Court in that case”.
By an Order of 9 December 2013, the Court fixed 9 December 2014 and 9 December 2015 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by Nicaragua and a Counter-Memorial by Colombia. On 14 August 2014, Colombia, referring to Article 79 of the Rules of Court, raised certain preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and to the admissibility of the Application. In accordance with Article 79, paragraph 5, of the Rules of Court, the proceedings on the merits were suspended.
Observ@tório de Relações Internacionais - UFOP 
Todos os países têm uma zona econômica exclusiva de 200 milhas marítimas, a contar das linhas de base definidas. A partir desse limite, deve-se submeter as informações pertinentes à área sobre a qual se pretende exercer domínio ao Secretário Geral das Nações Unidas. No caso, a Nicarágua faltou com essas informações, nada podendo fazer a Corte Internacional de Justiça, e permitindo que a Colômbia continue explorando essas águas. O Pacto de Bogotá, que aborda do assunto, fora denunciado pela Colômbia, e não surte mais efeitos em relação aos dois países. A Nicarágua não foi precisa em suas alegações. Diz-se que as relações internacionais devem ser pautadas pela boa-fé, o que, de certo modo, implica a precisão das alegações. Pode ser até que a Nicarágua tenha a razão de fato, mas, sob a ótica do direito, falhou em suas pretensões. Resta saber se a área possui atual ou potencial relevância exploratória, porque, se houver algum recurso explorável nessas águas, a briga entre Nicarágua e Colômbia pode transformar-se em um conflito que vá além dos meios jurisdicionais estabelecidos no cenário internacional. Torçamos para que isso não aconteça e que os países cumpram com o dever de buscar a paz, como estabelecido pela ONU.
CurtirCurtir
Historicamente Colombia e Nicaragua tem tido disputas territoriais. Primeiramente com o arquipélago de San Andreas onde a Colombia usa o Tratado de Esguerra-Bárcenas como justificação de sua reinvindicação das ilhas, onde a Nicaragua contra argumenta que no momento da assinatura do tratado estava sob invasão dos Estados Unidos, e fez um apelo ao artigo 31 do Pacto de Bogotá, o qual relata em sua alínea “b” que as controvérsias devem ser levadas à CIJ. A Colombia usou como argumento Juridico que não era possível o uso do art.31 em tal situação pois como menciona o Art 6 º, o tratado não lidará de tratados em vigor na epoca de vigencia do pacto de Bogotá.
O mais novo episódio no drama que são as relações entre Nicaragua e Colombia, está na questão na delimitação de fronteiras marítimas. Dentro das 200 milhas marítimas se encontra a Zona economica exclusiva, podendo ser ampliada de acordo com a plataforma continental, na qual um país tem a prerrogativa de utilização dos recursos tanto vivos quanto não vivos, e responsabilidade ambiental. A Colombia tem usado para demarcar seu limite o 82º meridiano.
A Nicaragua faltou com informações e não estabeleceu que sua margem continental se estende para além das linhas marítmas, e então a corte nada podia fazer pelo clamor para delimitar a plataforma continental pela Nicaragua.
CurtirCurtir