BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – The Belize government Tuesday said it had met the International Court of Justice (ICJ) deadline for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to file its Memorial in the dispute with Honduras regarding the sovereignty over the Sapodilla Caye.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Belmopan had Tuesday delivered its Memorial in the case concerning sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes to Jean-Pelé Fomété, Deputy Registrar of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
“Belize’s Memorial vigorously defends Belize’s sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes. The Memorial requests the Court to adjudge and declare that, as between Belize and Honduras, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes and that Honduras has no valid claim to the Sapodilla Cayes,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said that in keeping with February 2, 2023, ICJ order, Honduras is due to submit its Counter-Memorial on December 4.
Last November, the government said it had deposited its application with the ICJ Registrar. It seeks a final and binding resolution of the dispute with Honduras concerning sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes, including Seal Caye.
In its application, which is posted on the website of the ICJ, Belize recalls that “since the early nineteenth century, the Sapodilla Cayes have formed part of the territory of Belize, initially as part of the settlement of Belize and later the colony of British Honduras, and since 1981 as part of the independent State of Belize”.
It argues that under international law, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes and that the Honduran claim to the Sapodilla Cayes, “articulated in its 1982 Constitution, which remains in force as a matter of the internal law of Honduras, has no basis in international law”.
The area in dispute is located in the southernmost group of islands/cayes in Belizean waters.
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