ICJ –Intense, Concentrated, and Jumping with Joy

By EUNJI RHEE, INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BEIJING

“Today [the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is] here to debate the delimitation of the maritime borders of Peru and Chile. We’ll be referring to international laws and listening to the cases that both countries bring to the court,” explained Judge Aisha Fakhroo from American School of Doha. Fakhroo added, “This case dates back to a long time ago, so we also have to consider previous cases.”
A long time is right. The dispute over the borderlines of Peru and Chile surfaced in 1879 when Peru and Bolivia engaged in a four year war against Chile over this matter. While Peru claimed that the marital border was undefined, Chile claimed that it was, in the Santiago Treaty of 1952. The controversy has grown more intense and finally in 2008, Peru decided to bring the case to The Hague. At THIMUN Singapore 2008, The ICJ committee will discuss this case for two days.
“On the first day of trial, we had an opening statement, followed by an introduction of evidence from the advocates of Peru and Chile. We evaluated the evidence by the significance it held, and then Chile called for three witnesses,” said President Jessica Hung from Overseas Family School. The ambassadors of Ecuador, the United States, and Chile stood as witnesses in favor of Chile. On the second day, the trial began with the ambassador of Peru, a witness that the advocates of Peru called for. The intense and incessant questioning from both Peru and Chile surrounding this witness exemplified the gravity of this hot debate.
The advocates of the two countries showed determination to win. “We think we are better prepared, with a multi-faceted case to back us up. We also have many more pieces of evidence,” remarked advocates of Chile, Chong Kee En and Toh Jia Jun from Hwa Chong Institution. Advocates of Peru, Jesse Chang and Hunter Putzke from the American School in Taichung, disagreed: “We believe that our case will succeed because the Santiago Treaty states that the border would be defined from the parallel to the land border in the presence of islands, which, there are none.” Although engaged in such an intense debate, the advocates are happy to be here. Chang added, “This is my first time in ICJ, and I’m glad to have this wonderful opportunity.”
Overall, events in ICJ seem promising. As Registrar Varun Arte from the International School of Beijing commented, “The forum is enriching, advocates are focused, witnesses are well prepped, and the judges are keen.”