ICJ to announce maritime case judgement between Somalia and Kenya

The International court of justice will rule today in the long standing maritime case between Somalia and Kenya delivering a verdict with potentially far-reaching consequences for bilateral ties and energy extraction in the region.

A full bench of 15 judges led by US judge Joan Donoghue will hand down the verdict at the Peace Palace in The Hague today evening in east Africa. Kenya has already lashed the ICJ as biased and announced it does not recognise the court’s binding jurisdiction.

Somalia argues the boundary should follow the orientation of its land border and thus head out in a line towards the southeast while Kenya says its boundary runs in a straight line east — a delineation that would give it a big triangular slice of the sea.

Tuesday’s verdict may further sour diplomatic relations between the two countries after Kenya in 2019 recalled its ambassador in Mogadishu after accusing Somalia of selling off oil and gas blocks in the contested area.