Somalia attends the hearing of Maritime case with Kenya ‘Alone’.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday decided to proceed with the hearing of the maritime case filed by Somalia without Kenya’s participation.

Kenya’s station at the court was empty while Somalia had three representatives.

ICJ in its address to Somalia’s delegation decided to instead rely on Kenya’s written submissions and documents, asserting that they were properly before the court.

ICJ’s president Justice Joan E Donoghue expressed the court’s regret that Kenya had opted to walk out of the case even as Somalia claimed that her neighbour had been given “abundant chances” to argue its case.

The court also rejected Kenya’s request to file additional evidence contained in 176-page document sent to the court on March 11. “The court regrets the decision of Kenya not to participate in the case. The court has documents filed by Kenya and they are part and parcel of the case. Court has now allowed that all documents will be placed on the website,” she said.