María José Bonilla

201517423
Case #2

Disputes regarding Navigational and Related Rights (Costa Rica v.

Nicaragua), ICJ, 13 July 2009

International Court Of Justice (ICJ)

Contentious
13 July 2009

FACTS:
1. In 15th April 1858, the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua reached a Treaty of
Limits which they ratified the same year. That Treaty, fixed the layout of the border
between Costa Rica and Nicaragua from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, to be
more precise: along the right bank of the San Juan River. On the other hand, the Treaty
established the dominium and supreme empire of the Nicaraguan jurisdiction on the San
Juan water and at the same time confirmed the navigation rights of Costa Rica but only
with commercial objects inside of the river.
2. After several challenges about the validity of the ‘Treaty of Limits’ by Nicaragua, the parts
remitted the point to arbitration of the president of the United States. In 22th March
1888, his arbitral award held that the Treaty was validly and that Costa Rica only had right
to navigate by the river of San Juan with war vessels for public transport with payment
because this could be related whit navigation with commercial objects.
3. On August 1914, Nicaragua subscribed the Treaty Chamorro-Bryam with United States
which granted the U.S. exclusive property rights for the construction and maintenance of
an inter oceanic canal through de San Juan river. Two years after, Costa Rica denounced to
Nicaragua with the argument that the second state breached its obligation of consult to
Costa Rica before undertaking any canalization project in accordance with Article VIII of
the 1858 Treaty. The Centro American Court of Justice ruled in favor of Costa Rica.
4. On January 1956, Costa Rica and Nicaragua subscribed the Treaty Fournier-Sevilla. Its
objective was facilitated and accelerated the traffic, in particular through the San Juan
River.
5. In the decades of 1980 and 1990, Nicaragua introduced a series of temporary restriction to
Costa Rica about the navigation in that river because of the national security of Nicaragua
in the context of armed conflict, some of them were annulled and new ones were also
created.
6. On 14 July 1998, Nicaragua prohibited the navigation of Costa Rica seagoing vessels that
transporting members of its police forces.
7. On 30 July 1998, both states subscribed a document called Cuadra-Lizano joint
communique that permitted the navigation of Costa Rica seagoing vessels that
transporting members of its police forces but with some restrictions. The same year,
Nicaragua declared this communique as null and Costa Rica didn’t accept that declaration.
8. On October 2001, Nicaragua expressed its reserved about the declaration that accepted
the Court jurisdiction. About that point, Nicaragua didn’t accept that jurisdiction in
relation with “any matter or claim based in interpretations of treaties or arbitral awards
that were signed or made, respectively, before to 31 December 1901”.
 9. On September 2002, under the agreement Tovar-Caldera signed by the both states,
Nicaragua accorded a moratoria of three years in relation with its reserves of 2001. Costa
Rica accorded that in the same period of three years would not initiate any action before
the International Court of Justice nor before any other authority in relation with questions
or protest about the treaties or agreements in vigor between both of them.
10. After the period of the three years, the States couldn’t be able to resolve its differences.
So, on 29 September of 2005 Costa Rica established a procedure before the Court against
Nicaragua in relation with its navigational and related rights on the San Juan river.
Nicaragua hasn’t presented objections about the Court jurisdiction.

ISSUE:
- ¿Viola Nicaragua los derechos de navegacion y conexos de costa rica al interpreter de
manera restrictiva el art. Tal del tratado tal, específicamente lo referente a “objetos de
comercio?

RULE:
- Treaty of Limits, 1858.

ANALYSIS:
- The Court noted that the real problem is about the interpretation that states give to the
expression “con objetos de comercio” contended in the article VI of the Teatry of Limits
(1858). According with the Nicaragua’s view, this expression had to be interpreted only in
relation to the transportation of goods destined for sale in a commercial exchange. On the
other hand, Costa Rica said that the expression had to be interpreted in a ample way,
including not only the transportation of goods but also the transportation of passagers and
tourists.