Weekly Report - 01 October 2015 (WR-15-39)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague found last week that it has jurisdiction to rule on a claim filed by Bolivia in 2013 against Chile over the latter’s obligation to negotiate access to the Pacific Ocean that Bolivia lost to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883). The ruling is final and cannot be appealed. While Bolivia’s President Evo Morales trumpeted it as a major diplomatic coup, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet was quick to point out that “Bolivia hasn’t won anything”, and that the ruling does not affect Chile’s “territorial integrity”. All that it means is that the case can continue to be heard by the ICJ, a process which could take many months if not years, now that Chile’s technical objection to this has been overruled. Bolivia is pointing to the ICJ’s decision as a sign that the court views its case favourably.

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