- Guatemala intervenes in Belize-Honduras territory case (Sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes)
According to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Republic of Guatemala filed an application for permission to intervene in the proceedings concerning Sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes (Belize versus Honduras) on December 1.
Guatemala recalls in its application for permission to intervene that on November 16, 2022, Belize initiated proceedings against the Republic of Honduras over “sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cays or Cayes, a cluster of islands in the Gulf of Honduras, which Guatemala also claims.” Belize asks the Court to “adjudicate and declare that, as between Belize and Honduras, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes.”
Belize’s submission in the Belize v. Honduras case, according to Guatemala, coincides with its comments in the lawsuit of Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular, and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize). Both Belize and Guatemala claim sovereignty over the Sapodillas in the latter scenario.
Guatemala claims in its application for permission to intervene that it has “a clear legal interest [in the Belize v. Honduras case] because… it has a longstanding claim of sovereignty over the Sapodillas, which is part of the subject-matter of the pending Guatemala/Belize case before the Court” and that a decision of the Court in the present case may affect it.
Guatemala goes on to say that the goal of its engagement is twofold:
(a) to preserve Guatemala’s rights and interests in the Sapodilla Cays by all legal methods available, including those specified by Article 62 of the Court’s Statute;
(b) to inform the Court of the nature and scope of Guatemala’s rights, which may be affected by the Court’s decision on sovereignty over the Sapodillas.
Guatemala’s Application further seeks to ensure that the Court’s decisions do not affect or damage the Republic of Guatemala’s legitimate rights and interests.”
Guatemala emphasises that, while Guatemala and Belize have established a particular agreement in the Guatemala/Belize dispute, there is no basis of jurisdiction between Guatemala and Honduras.
On the other hand, it argues that “the absence of such a link with Honduras is not a bar to Guatemala’s intervention, since the … application for permission to intervene is based on Article 62 of the Court’s Statute” .
The ICJ adds that, under Article 62 of the Statute, whenever a State that is not a party to a matter believes that it has a legal interest that may be affected by the Court’s decision, it may request permission to intervene.
As a result, Belize and Honduras have been invited, in line with Article 83 of the Rules of Court, to submit written opinions on Guatemala’s Application for Permission to Intervene.
According to the proceedings’ history, on November 16, 2022, Belize initiated proceedings against Honduras over a dispute over sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes, which it describes as a group of cayes lying in the Gulf of Honduras at the southern tip of the Belize Barrier Reef.
Belize stated in its Application for Initiation of Proceedings that the Sapodilla Cayes have been part of the territory of Belize since the early nineteenth century, first as part of the settlement of Belize and later as part of the colony of British Honduras, and since 1981 as part of the independent State of Belize.
It maintained that, “under international law, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes” as well as that “the Honduran claim to the Sapodilla Cayes, articulated in its 1982 Constitution, which remains in force as a matter of the internal law of Honduras, has no basis in international law” .
Belize sought that the Court “judgement and declare that, as between Belize and Honduras, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes.”
Belize invoked Article XXXI of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogotá) dated April 30, 1948, and Article 36, paragraph 1 of the Statute of the Court as the foundation for the Court’s jurisdiction.
The Court set May 2 and December 4, 2023 as the deadlines for filing the Memorial of Belize and the Counter-Memorial of Honduras, respectively, in an Order dated February 2, 2023. Both written pleas were filed within the time frames established.
