The International Court of Justice has rejected a request by the Kenyan government to postpone the hearing of the Somali maritime case, according to the Somali government.
”With reference to the Indian Ocean delimitation case between Somalia and Kenya, and Kenya’s request for a stay of proceedings, I would like to inform you that, after considering the arguments of both parties, the court has decided to proceed. The hearing is scheduled to begin on March 15,” said Philippe Gautier, the ICJ registrar.
Philippe Gautier added that the hearing would take place online, without going to court, and informed both parties to submit the names of the members representing them in the debate.
Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled has said that the Somali government welcomes the final decision, which was rejected by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday afternoon in Kenya’s request to adjourn its maritime case.
The Kenyan government recently requested that the case be postponed for a fourth time, this time arguing that it would prefer to go face-to-face, rather than online, according to Attorney General Ken Ogeto.
The Somali-Kenyan trial is scheduled to take place on March 15-19.