On 6 April 2023, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its judgment in the case of Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v Venezuela). The background to this case has already been discussed in detail on this blog here. In short, it relates to a centuries-old territorial dispute originating in the colonial era, unsuccessfully resolved…

On Thursday 28 January, the ITLOS Special Chamber delivered its judgment on the admissibility of the Dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives). One of the key issues was the Maldives’ contention that the ongoing dispute between Mauritius and the UK over the Chagos Islands precluded the…

The recent ICJ Advisory Opinion concerning the Chagos Islands has, understandably, received a great deal of attention. The controversies surrounding the more political elements of the decision have dominated headlines. However, in this blog post, we want to focus on one particular aspect of the Court’s decision. Tucked away at the end of the opinion, paragraph 180…