The International Court of Justice in The Hague announced Friday that it is to
issue a ruling in late January on a maritime border dispute between Chile and Peru.
In a statement, the court said the judgment will be delivered on January 27 by the court’s president, Judge Peter Tomka.
“It is recalled that the judgments of the Court have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned,” the statement said.
Peru filed its complaint at the ICJ in January 2008.
The ICJ had originally planned to deliver its ruling earlier this year, but pushed the date back due to presidential elections in Chile.
The Governments of both Chile and Peru have said they will respect the ruling, although the issue could create increased diplomatic tensions.
The dispute dates back to the 1879 – 1883 War of the Pacific, in which Peru and Bolivia lost substantial territory to Chile. Central to the current row is 38,000 square kilometers, or about 14,500 square miles, of fishing-rich sea which Chile currently controls.
Chile says the current border, which runs parallel to the Equator, was established under the two agreements from the 1950s, which Peru claims were fishing treaties and that the maritime zone has never been settled.
Peru’s proposed border follows the countries’ south-western sloping border into the ocean, with the disputed area marked in dark blue in the map below.
(The history of the proceedings can be found in the Annual Report of the Court 2012-2013 (paragraphs 133-140), which can be downloaded from the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org) under the heading “The Court”, “Annual Reports”.)
