International Law

Case Brief

Nature of the case: Dispute - regarding Navigational and Related Rights

Reference: Costa Rica Vs Nicaragua
Institution: International Court of Justice
Date: 13 of July of 2009

1. Facts:
 Governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua reached agreement on 15 April 1858
on a Treaty of Limits, which was ratified by Costa Rica on 16 April 1858 and by
Nicaragua on 26 April 1858.
 The 1858 Treaty of Limits fixed the course of the boundary between Costa Rica
and Nicaragua from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. Between a point three
English miles from Castillo Viejo, a town in Nicaraguan territory, and the Caribbean
Sea, the Treaty fixed the boundary along the right bank of the San Juan river.
 Within the agreements reached in the treaty, the navigation rights of Costa Rica
"Con objetos de comercio" in the lower course of the river San Juan were agreed
free of charge.
 Years after the entry into force of the treaty, problems began to arise over the
scope of the interpretation of the expression "Con objetos de comercio", which led
to the imposition of restrictions, taxes and other obstacles to the free right of
navigation in the river.
 • The States on several occasions and different instances tried to resolve the
situation but an agreement was not reached between them.
 On 29 September 2005 Costa Rica filed in the Registry of the Court an Application
instituting proceedings against Nicaragua about a “dispute concerning navigational
and related rights of Costa Rica on the San Juan River.

2. Legal issues:
How should the meaning of the expression "Libre navegación … con objetos de comercio",
which is contained in the Treaty of Limits of April 15, 1858, be interpreted and understood
in relation to the right of free navigation of Costa Rica in the San Juan River?
3. Rule(s) of law:
For the specific case, the International Court of Justice determined that the applicable
rule to regulate the right of free navigation of Costa Rica was within the same treaty, but
the Court did not enter to determine the rule applicable to the case, it interpreted the
expression "Libre navegación … con objetos de comercio" contained in the treaty, to give
the meaning and thus determine the scope of the applicable standard.
To this end, the Court made the interpretation of the expression using the resources of
international custom, which for the specific case is reflected in Articles 31 and 32 of the
Vienna Convention, which apply to the case even though Nicaragua is not part of the
Vienna Convention and that the treaty predates it.
In this case, the Court determined that in the treaty the parties gave an abstract
understanding to the expression in question, so that a restrictive interpretation or too
broad interpretation is not applicable to the case.
While it is true that “that the terms used in a treaty must be interpreted in light of what
is determined to have been the parties’ common intention, which is, by definition,
contemporaneous with the treaty’s conclusion” (CIJ, 2009), The interpretation that must
be given is of an evolutionary type, that is, it should not be interpreted exactly as it was
at the time the treaty was granted, but rather the interpretation of the moment in which
the treaty should be applied should be applied, so that in this case the provision also
applies to the transport of passengers and tourists.

4. Holding and reasoning:

For the specific case, the International Court of Justice made a complete analysis of the
meaning of trade and the meaning of the object, and what these in turn imply and
enclose, Bearing in mind that the analysis of these meanings is shown from two
perspectives, the old perspective and the current or modern perspective in which it is
found and in which the dispute is generated.
the reality in which they were understood at the time in which the treaty was given and
what is the reality in which the court is understood today.
In the same way does a recount of how the treaties bind the parties and the consequences
that brings for these breaches.

5. Decision:
After making an interpretation about the way in which the disposition generating the
conflict should be understood, in summary the Court decided as regards Costa Rica’s
navigational rights on the San Juan river under the 1858 Treaty, in that part where
navigation is common:

 Finds that Costa Rica has the right of free navigation on the San Juan river for
purposes of commerce includes: the transport of passengers, the transport of
tourists.
 Finds that persons travelling on the San Juan river on board Costa Rican vessels
exercising Costa Rica’s right of free navigation are not required to obtain
Nicaraguan visas and are not required to purchase Nicaraguan tourist cards.
 Finds that the inhabitants of the Costa Rican bank of the San Juan river have the
right to navigate on the river between the riparian communities for the purposes
of the essential needs of everyday life which require expeditious transportation;
 Finds that Costa Rica has the right of navigation on the San Juan river with official
vessels used solely, in specific situations, to provide essential services for the
inhabitants of the riparian areas where expeditious transportation is a condition
for meeting the inhabitants’ requirements;
 Finds that Costa Rica does not have the right of navigation on the San Juan river
with vessels carrying out police functions.
 As regards Nicaragua’s right to regulate navigation on the San Juan river, in that
part where navigation is common.