Ruling On Maritime Boundary Dispute Between Ghana And Cote d'Ivoire Today

The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, established to deal with the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean will deliver its verdict at a public sitting at 3 p.m.

The President of the Special Chamber, Judge Boualem Bouguetaia will read the Order.  

A public hearing on the case was held on 29th and 30th of last month.  

In its final submissions, Côte  d’Ivoire requested  the Special  Chamber to prescribe provisional measures requiring Ghana to take all steps to suspend all ongoing oil  exploration and exploitation  operations in the disputed area and refrain from granting any new permit for oil exploration and exploitation in the disputed area. 

Ghana on the other hand requested the Special Chamber to deny all of Côte d’Ivoire’s requests for provisional measures.  

The Order will be read in the main courtroom of the Tribunal and the sitting will be opened to the public and broadcast live on the website.


Meanwhile, Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Expert, Austin Gamey also believes Ghana has a water tight case and will win. According to him, a lot of variables seem to be in favour of Ghana.  

He noted that, it would have been better if the two countries had been able to resolve the issue without recourse to international arbitration.

GBC