The President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has appointed independent experts in the case concerning Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua), whose task is to determine the state of the coast between the point suggested by Costa Rica and the point suggested by Nicaragua in their pleadings as the starting-point of the maritime boundary in the Caribbean Sea.

Readers of The Costa Rica Star may remember that this case is essentially a continuation of the Google Maps Invasion of Costa Rica by Nicaragua in 2010, when Eden Pastora, an aging guerrilla fighter formerly known as Commander Zero, produced Google Maps printouts to justify the bivouac set up in Costa Rica by the armed Nicaraguan security forces who accompanied him on a dredging operation of the San Juan River.

When our Ministry of Foreign Affairs complained to Google, the search engine giant revealed that their mapping data on the region was obtained from the U.S. Department of State. All the same, it was incorrect information that Google quickly amended.

Notwithstanding the above, the case drags on; to wit: On 25 February 2014, the Republic of Costa Rica instituted proceedings before the ICJ against the Republic of Nicaragua with regard to a “[d]ispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean”

By an Order dated 16 June 2016, the following two experts were appointed:

– Mr. Eric Fouache, of French nationality, professor of geography, Vice-Chancellor of Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France and President of the International Association of Geomorphologists;

– Mr. Francisco Gutiérrez, of Spanish nationality, professor of geology and geomorphology at the University of Zaragoza (Spain), former member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Geomorphologists.

The Order states that, by letters dated 2 June 2016, the Registrar informed the Parties of the Court’s decision to obtain an expert opinion (Press Release No. 2016/17 of 9 June 2016) and of the fact that it had identified two potential experts, and invited the Parties to communicate to the Court any observations they might wish to make on the choice of the said experts.

It further indicates that, by a letter dated 10 June 2016, Costa Rica stated that it had no objections to the two experts identified by the Court and that it was ready to provide any necessary assistance to the expert mission, and that, in a letter of the same date, Nicaragua made no specific observations regarding the two experts, but expressed its full disposition to assist the Court in the organization of the mission.

 

Original ICJ Press Release at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/157/19042.pdf (PDF)