September 23, 2017//-The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) today delivered its judgement in Ghana’s favour in the maritime dispute with neighbouring Ivory Coast.
But it has directed the two nations to agree on some measures, key among them is an agreement on the delimitation of their maritime boundaries.
After years of adjudicating the case, the Special Chamber delivered judgement in the presence of both parties in Germany.
The Special Chamber raised concerns over Ghana’s traditional equidistant agreement of more than five decades by recommending new methodologies for delimitation within and beyond 200 nautical miles. The Special Chamber cited the Qatar-Bahrain and Bangladesh-Myanmar precedents in delivering its judgement.
Ghana’s delegation to the ITLOS was led by the Attorney General, Madam Gloria Akuffo.
Read full ruling here: full-judgement-itlos-ruling-ghana-ivory-coast-maritime-dispute/
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
After years of dispute, the court ruled in favour of Ghana on Saturday, September 23 to bring finality to the impasse.
Ghana discovered oil and gas in commercial quantities in 2007. Cote d’Ivoire staked claim of ownership to portions of the West Cape Three Points.
In 2010, Cote d’Ivoire renewed claim of ownership of the disputed sea, days after Vanco, an oil exploration and production company, announced the discovery of oil in the Dzata-1 deepwater-well.
Ivorian government petitioned the United Nations asking for a completion of the demarcation of its maritime boundary with Ghana.
n March 2010, Ghanaian authorities responded with the setting up of the Ghana Boundary Commission (GBC) tasked with the responsibility of negotiating with Côte d’Ivoire towards finding a lasting solution to the problem.
Ghana dragged Cote d’Ivoire to ITLOS in September 2014 after 10 failed negotiations.
In April 2015, the ITLOS made first ruling and placed moratorium on new projects and also asked old projects to continue.
The ITLOS ruling, according to experts can never be appealed but can only be clarified if a party does not understand aspect(s) of the ruling.
African Eye Report
