HEARINGS TO OPEN ON 15 FEBRUARY ON MERITS OF CASE CONCERNING KASIKILI/SEDUDU ISLAND (BOTSWANA/NAMIBIA)
Press Release
ICJ/562
HEARINGS TO OPEN ON 15 FEBRUARY ON MERITS OF CASE CONCERNING KASIKILI/SEDUDU ISLAND (BOTSWANA/NAMIBIA)
19990210 THE HAGUE, 10 February (ICJ) -- Hearings in the case concerning Kasikili/Sedudu Island (Botswana/Namibia) will open on Monday, 15 February, before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The hearings, which will last until Friday, 5 March, will be concerned with the merits of the case.On 29 May 1996, the Government of Botswana and the Government of Namibia notified jointly to the Registrar of the Court a Special Agreement between the two States signed at Gaborone (Botswana) on 15 February 1996, which came into force on 15 May 1996, for the submission to the Court of the dispute existing between them concerning the boundary around Kasikili/Sedudu Island and the legal status of the Island.
The Special Agreement refers to a Treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany respecting the spheres of influence of the two countries, signed on 1 July 1890, and to the appointment, on 24 May 1992, of a Joint Team of Technical Experts "to determine the boundary between Namibia and Botswana around Kasikili/Sedudu Island" on the basis of that Treaty and of the applicable principles of international law.
Finding themselves unable to reach agreement on the question, the Joint Team of Technical Experts recommended "recourse to the peaceful settlement of the dispute on the basis of the applicable rules and principles of international law".
At the Summit Meeting held in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 15 February 1995, President Masire of Botswana and President Nujoma of Namibia agreed "to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice for a final and binding determination".
Under the terms of the Special Agreement, the Parties asked the Court to "determine, on the basis of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1 July 1890 and the rules and principles of international law, the boundary between Namibia and Botswana around Kasikili/Sedudu Island and the legal status of the island".
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