137- Maritime Dispute (Peru vs Chile)
137- Maritime Dispute (Peru vs Chile)
On January 16th, 2008, Peru filed an application instituting the proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Chile to settle the maritime disputes existing between the two States.
In its judgment of January 27th, 2014, the ICJ first sought to ascertain that there existed, as Chile claimed, an agreed maritime boundary extending 200 nautical miles from the Parties’ respective coasts. After having examined all the documents submitted to it, the Court concluded that the express recognition of a maritime boundary by the parties was necessarily based on a tacit agreement entered into between them and simply ”cemented” by the 1954 Special Maritime Frontier Zone Agreement.
Regarding the delimitation of said border, the ICJ used its traditional 3 step-method:
- First, the Court the constructs a provisional equidistance line unless there are compelling reasons preventing it from doing so.
- Second, it considers whether there are any relevant circumstances which may call for an adjustment of that line to achieve an equitable result.
- Third, the Court conducts a disproportionality test in which it assesses whether the effect of the line, as adjusted, is such that the parties’ respective shares of the relevant area are markedly disproportionate to the lengths of their relevant coasts.
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.
