Date set for ruling on whether Kenya will take part in Somalia maritime case

A three-judge bench of the Kenyan High Court is set to deliver its ruling on a petition involving the maritime boundary case between Kenya and Somali on November 7, 2019.

The case was filed by a group of 20 petitioners seeking to stop Kenya from taking part in the case pending before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing that the dispute threatens to illegally alter the countries boundaries.

The Attorney General has however objected to the case by the petitioners saying issues on border line are beyond the request made by the petitioners in court because they fall under foreign policy.

“Multiple considerations and factors need to be borne in mind in determining the nature of foreign relations and policy,” argued lawyer Paul Nyamodi.

Lawyer Nyamodi, who was representing the Attorney General, submitted that the petition does not fall within the court’s jurisdiction.

According to the lawyer, the matter involves a question of policy decisions of the Executive arm of Government and thus not one that can properly be determined by the High Court.

The hearing of the maritime dispute will start on September 9 and run through to September 13 at the ICJ in The Hague, Netherlands.

The program, as previously announced by the court, states that there will be two parts of hearings – one on Monday and Wednesday, the other on Thursday and Friday – with each country being given two days to defend their cases.

Somalia will prosecute its case on the first day, September 9, through oral submissions between 10am and 1pm, then 3pm to 4.30pm Hague time.

Kenya, which is yet to appoint a legal team, will have the same time to respond on September 11.