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Kenya objects maritime case with Somalia, says inadmissible

Storyline:National News

Kenya has challenged Somalia’s case over the maritime border filed in July this year noting that the case does not merit mention in the International Court of Justice as it falls outside its jurisdiction.

In its Preliminary Objections Wednesday, Kenyan Attorney General Prof. Githu Muigai argued that the case falls outside the jurisdiction of the Court and is inadmissible since it is “contrary to Somalia’s international obligations under the Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) signed on 7 April 2009, under the good offices of the Norwegian Government.”

Inadmissible

“Kenya’s contention is that Somalia’s case falls outside the jurisdiction of the Court and is inadmissible because it is contrary to Somalia’s international obligations,” said Muigai.

Somalia filed its case challenging Kenya in July over the maritime border arguing that Kenya had encroached on its territory in the Indian Ocean border and went ahead to license oil companies for oil exploration.

Somalia, to the north of Kenya, wants the maritime border to drop along the line of the land border diagonally to the southeast but Kenya insists on a straight line to the east.

Continental shelf

Somalia in its application is requesting the  ICJ to “determine, on the basis of international law, the complete course of the single maritime boundary dividing all the maritime areas appertaining to Somalia and to Kenya in the Indian Ocean, including the continental shelf beyond 200 [nautical miles].” It also asks the ICJ “to determine the precise geographical coordinates of the single maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.’

But Kenya has insisted the two countries had agreed through an MOU to settled the matter out of court in 2009.

“Litigating this complex issue before the Court is clearly contrary to the 2009 MOU. Somalia’s case is invalid, and Kenya is confident that the Court will agree with its submission. The two Governments must find a solution through an amicable agreement, under international law. It is their obligation to do so,” read the statement in part.

Somalia will have the right to respond to Kenya’s Preliminary Objections in the coming months, following which the court will schedule an oral hearing, before rendering its judgment on Jurisdictions and Admissibility in 2016.