I.C.J to Elect New Judges before Belize-Guatemala Land Dispute Resumes

The oral hearings for the Belize-Guatemala territorial dispute that is before the International Court of Justice are closed for now and won’t resume until next February. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eamon Courtenay explained on Wednesday that elections of new judges are slated for November. Courtenay said that Belize will be paying keen attention to who we vote for as judges. And viewers will recall that Belize had instituted proceedings before the I.C.J. against Honduras with regard to a dispute concerning sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes. Courtenay also said that Honduras has participated in the proceedings.

Eamon Courtenay

Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“The new bench will take its place – its seat in February of next year. So we expect either sometime in late spring or in summer, we will get a hearing. Our lawyers tell us that the I.C.J. docket is full, but they believe that by summer, we should have a hearing date.  I just received an email this morning with advice on which judges we should support and which we should not support. I have passed that on to our permanent representative in New York, so that we can do an assessment.”

Reporter

“And are you able to clarify for us? How does the Honduras aspect of the case factor in to the timeline so far?”

Eamon Courtenay

“It has not affected the timeline. We have filed, you know, our memorial. We are waiting their counter memorial. So far it has not changed when we expect the case to be heard. They have participated. They have attended meetings at the court in terms of setting deadlines, so they are participating. The election is in November, but we are closely analyzing all the candidates and deciding who we are going to vote for.”