Oral Hearing Of The Maritime Border Dispute Between Ghana And Ivory Coast Begins Today

Oral hearing of the maritime border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast begins at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea at Hamburg in Germany today.

The President of the Special Chamber constituted to deal with the dispute, Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, will preside over the hearing for the next ten days. Ghana’s team which is expected to put up its defense today is being led by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo.

Here is a background to the case. Ivory Coast will follow subsequently with its oral submission after which the parties will visit the boundary for field assessment.

Background
The case dubbed: “Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire was filed by Ghana after 10 failed negotiations. Ghana is seeking a declaration that it has not encroached on Cote d’Ivoire’s territorial waters. Cote d’Ivoire in February 2015 filed for preliminary measures urging the tribunal to suspend all activities on the disputed area until the definitive determination of the case.

But the Special Chamber of the ITLOS on April 25, 2015 declined to suspend production activities in the disputed area with the explanation that “in the view of the Special Chamber, the suspension of ongoing activities conducted by Ghana in respect of which drilling has already taken place would entail the risk of considerable financial loss to Ghana, and its concessioners and could also pose a serious danger to the marine environment resulting, in particular, from the deterioration of equipment”.