069- Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso vs Mali)
069- Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso vs Mali)
On October 14th 1983, Burkina Faso and Mali jointly notified the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of a compromise in which it requested the Court to delimit the land border between the two countries for part of its length. In its Order dated April 3rd 1985, the Court set up a Chamber to rule on the matter.
Following clashes between their armed forces, both countries submitted requests for the indication of provisional measures. The Court granted these requests in its Order of January 10th, 1986.
The Chamber ruled on the merits of the case in its judgment of December 22nd, 1986. It noted that the principles of the intangibility of borders inherited from decolonization as well as of uti possidetis juris (Latin phrase meaning you will possess what you already possessed) should apply in this case. Taking into account all the elements, it delimited the land border between Burkina Faso and Mali and emphasised that the rights of Niger (also a border country) were not affected by this decision.
This summary is provided for informational purposes only, does not involve the responsibility of Dome and should in no way be used as a substitute for a careful reading of the judgment and order of the case.
