By Shane D. Williams
Almost one year ago, on May 8 2019, the people of Belize voted overwhelmingly in support of taking the Belize-Guatemala dispute to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Almost immediately after, Belize submitted the results, which triggered the Special Agreement’s proposal to start proceedings at the ICJ. By June 8, 2019 the Court was ready to proceed with the case. That meant Guatemala had exactly one year to present written arguments on its claim to Belize’s territory.
Two months before this historic deadline, on April 8, 2019 Guatemala submitted a request for extension of the time citing Covid-19 limitations. The Guatemalans claim it has been difficult to prepare for the case with the disturbance caused by the deadly pandemic. They asked the Court to extend the deadline by one year from June 8, 2020 to June 8, 2021.
Belize objected to this request but was not inconsiderate to the limitations imposed by Covid-19. Therefore, in a letter dated April 15, 2019 Belize submitted its objection to the extension but recommended that if the Court finds that the impact of Covid-19 merits an extension, a two-month extension would be sufficient.
On Friday, April 24, the ICJ decided to grant a six-month extension for submission of written arguments by Guatemala and a 12-month extension for Belize. Therefore, Guatemala is now expected to submit its arguments on December 8, 2020. Belize, originally scheduled to submit counter-arguments on June 8, 2021 now has until June 8, 2022 to do so.
Based on normal ICJ procedures, after Belize submits its Counter-Memorials, Guatemala will then have six months to respond. After Guatemala responds to Belize’s Counter-Memorial, Belize will have six months to respond to them. The judges may then require further oral arguments at a later date if necessary.
