Abstract
This Research work is centered mainly on the International Court of Justice?s
adjudication process in the Nigerian-Cameroon conflict. The research examines how
judgment over the conflict was passed by the International Court of Justice and how
they ensured justice was achieved in determining who the sovereignty over the
peninsula lies with.
The research for this study was conducted using secondary sources of data collection,
that is, data and materials were gathered majorly from Journals, Internet Sources,
Newspapers and few Textbooks.
Results from the research work reveal that the International Court of Justice declared
Cameroon the sovereign owner of the Bakassi Peninsula region on the basis of the
Anglo-German Treaty of 1913. It also showed how the United Nations Secretary
General, Koffi Annan, used his good offices to secure Nigeria and Cameroon?s
commitment to abide by any judgment reached by the court. This he did by holding
several meetings between the presidents o
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE:
The Hague Peace Conferences (1890 & 1907) were held to address the issue of
International arbitration and the work of these two conferences inspired and had an
influence on the creation of the Central American Court of Justice (1908 – 1918). The
conferences also had a bearing on the various plans and proposals that were submitted
between 1911 and 1919, both by national and international bodies and by
governments, for the establishment of an international judicial tribunal which
culminated in the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)
dafter the end of the First World War. On October 30 1943, following a conference
between China, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States, a joined
statement was issued “recognising the necessity of establishing a general international
organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving
states and open to members of such states, for the maintenance of international peace
and security.” This declaration results in the publication on 9th October 1944, of
proposals for the establishment of a general international organization to include an
International Court of Justice.1 At the San Francisco Conference (1945), in which 50
states participated, it was decided that an entirely new court be created on the basis of
PCIJ?s past experience. The International Court of Justice was to be one of the
principal organs of the United Nations necessitated the dissolution of its predecessor,
PCIJ, but it was agreed the Statute of the PCIJ was a very valuable tool for any future
court, and that it should be maintained. The Statute of the ICJ was adopted on 16 June1 History of the International court of Justice Retrieved from www.icj-cij.org/court
2
1945, together with the United Nations Charter. Both came into force on 24th October
1945.
Flowing from the foregoing, it can be said that the creation of the International Court
of Justice represented the culmination of a long development of methods for the
pacific settlement of international disputes, the origins of which can be traced back to
classical times. Article 33 of the United Nations Charter lists the following methods
for the pacific settlement of disputes between States: negotiation, enquiry, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and resort to regional agencies or
arrangements of good offices should also be added to the list.2
The International Court of Justice is the world’s highest international court and the
principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The ICJ has its seat in the Peace Palace
in The Hague. ICJ’s primary purpose is based on Article 2 of the UN Charter which
states that “all members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in
such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.”
As such, the ICJ has a dual role:
A. To give judgements on contentious cases submitted to it by States, in
accordance with international law and
B. To hand down advisory opinions on legal questions at the request of the
United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
Only States may apply to and appear before Court. The Court decides in accordance
with international treaties and conventions in force, international custom, the general
principles of law and, as subsidiary means, judicial decisions and the teachings of the
most highly-qualified publicists.3
2 Encyclopaedia Britannica, „Evolution of the International Court of Justice?, Retrieved from
www.britanica.com/EBchecked/topic
3 The International Court of Justice Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com/history/icj
3
The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States concerned have
accepted its jurisdiction in one or more of the following ways:
A. By the conclusion between them of a special agreement to submit the dispute
to the Court;
B. By virtue of a jurisdictional clause, i.e., typically, when they are parties to a
treaty containing a provision whereby, in the event of a disagreement over its
interpretation or application, one of them may refer the dispute to the Court.
Several hundred treaties or conventions contain a clause to such effect
C. Through the reciprocal effect of declarations made by them under the Statute
whereby each has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory in the
event of a dispute with another State having made a similar declaration. The
declarations of sixty States are at present in force, a number of them having
been made subject to the exclusion of certain categories of dispute.
In cases of doubt as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, it is the Court itself which
decides. The procedure followed by the Court in contentious cases is defined in its
Statute and in Rules of Court adopted by it under the Statute. The Rules now in force
were adopted on 14 April 1978. The proceedings include a written phase, in which
parties file and exchange pleadings, and an oral phase consisting of public hearings at
which agents and counsel address the Court. As the Court has two official languages
(English and French) everything written or said in one is translated into the other.4
After the oral proceedings the Court deliberates in private and then delivers its
judgement at a public sitting. The judgement is final and without appeal. Should one
of the States involved fail to comply with it, the other party may have recourse to the
Security Council of the United Nations. The advisory procedure of the Court is open
4 Olagunju Timi, International Court of Justice on Bakassi Peninsula : Cameroon & Nigeria, Retrieved
from www.scribd.com/doc/22575162/international-court-of-justice-on-bakassi-peninsulaCAMEROON-NIGERIA
4
solely to international organizations. The only bodies at present authorized to request
advisory opinions of the Court are six organs of the United Nations and 16 specialized
agencies of the United Nations family. The Statute of the ICJ was adopted on 16 June
1945, together with the United Nations Charter. Both came into force on 24 October
of the same year.
The organization of the International Court of Justice is governed by Articles 2-33 of
the Statute of the Court and by Articles 1-18 and 32-37 of the Rules of the Court. The
Court comprises the President, Vice-President, the full Court, Chambers, Registrar
and Registry. The Court elects its own President and Vice-President for three years. It
remains permanently in session, except during judicial vacations. The full Court is
composed of 15 judges who are elected to 9 year terms of office by the United
Nations General Assembly and Security Council sitting independently of each other.
Judges may be re-elected but the Court may not include more than one national of any
State. Members of the Court do not represent their governments but are independent
magistrates; they must possess the qualifications required in their respective countries
for appointment to the highest judicial offices, be of high moral character and be
highly-respected and well-recognized jurists in international law.5
The Court
discharges its duties as a full Court but, at the request of the parties, it may also
establish a Special Chamber. A Chamber is composed of a minimum of three judges
who are elected by the Court by secret ballot. The Court constituted such a Chamber
in 1982 for the first time, formed a second one in 1985 and constituted two more in
1987. A Chamber of Summary Procedure is elected every year by the Court in
accordance with its Statute. In July 1993, the Court also established a seven-member
Chamber to deal with any environmental cases falling within its jurisdiction.5 The International Court of Justice Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com/history/icj
5
The Registry is the permanent administrative organ of the ICJ. Generally speaking,
the work of the Registry of the Court covers four different areas:
A. Judicial
B. Diplomatic
C. Administrative and
D. Linguistic.
The Registry comprises a Registrar, a Deputy-Registrar and other officials. The
Registrar and Deputy-Registrar are appointed by the Court for a period of seven years.
They are eligible for re-election at the end of their terms. The other officials of the
Registry are appointed by the Court on proposals submitted by the Registrar, or by the
Registrar himself with the President’s approval. The Registrar is the Chief
Administrative Officer of the Court and apart from his judicial, diplomatic,
administrative and linguistic duties; he is also responsible for the annual publication
of the ICJ’s Yearbook and Bibliography of the International Court of Justice, as well
as other official publications of the Court. The Registrar is assisted by the Deputy
Registrar who acts as the Registrar in his absence. 6
BAKASSI PENINSULA
The area called Bakassi is a peninsula on the African Atlantic Gulf of Guinea. It lies
between the Cross River estuary, near the city of Calabar in the west, and the Rio del
Ray estuary on the east. It is governed by Cameroon, following the transfer of
sovereignty from neighbouring Nigeria as a result of a judgement by the International
Court of Justice on 14 August 2008. The Bakassi peninsula consists of a number of
low-lying, largely mangrove dominated islands, on the Cameroon-Nigeria border, at
the South-Eastern end of the Gulf of Guinea. The population of Bakassi has been a6 The International Court of Justice, Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com
6
subject of controversy, but is generally put between 150,000 and 300,000 people.
Bakassi is located at the edge of the Gulf of Guinea, where the warm east-flowing
Guinea current meets the cold north-flowing Benguela current.7 What is known as the
Bakassi Peninsula today, became a part of the British protectorate on September 10th
1884 following the signing of an agreement between the Obong of today?s Nigeria
and the British. This agreement included the extension of “British protection” to the
Obong and their chiefs who promised not to enter into further agreements with other
foreign powers without prior permission from British government. The Peninsula is
commonly described as “oil-rich”, though in fact no commercially viable deposits of
oil have been discovered. The area has however attracted the interest of oil companies
in the light of the discovery of rich reserves of high grade crude oil in Nigeria. At
least eight multinational oil companies have participated in the exploration of the
peninsula and its offshore waters. Nigeria and Cameroon disputed the possession of
Bakassi for years, leading to considerable tension between the two countries. In 1998,
the two countries almost went to war over the peninsula and another area around Lake
Chad, which are located at the other end of the two countries common border. More
serious conflicts broke out in early 1990, and on 29th March 1994, Cameroon
presented the matter to the International Court of Justice.
8
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The resource rich Bakassi peninsula has been a bone of contention between Nigeria
and Cameroon dating back to colonial period. Hostilities and military confrontations
broke out in the early 1990?s, thus Cameroon demanded the International Court of
7 Omogui, N. „The Bakassi Story?, Retrieved from http://www.omogui.com
8 Olagunju Timi, International Court of Justice on Bakassi Peninsula : Cameroon & Nigeria, Retrieved
from www.scribd.com/doc/22575162/international-court-of-justice-on-bakassi-peninsulaCAMEROON-NIGERIA
7
Justice intervene to help settle the dispute over its boundary with Nigeria, especially
on the question of sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula. After eight years of
judicial deliberation, the court delivered its judgement on 10th October 2002,
transferring the possession of the peninsula over to Cameroon, but did not require
inhabitants to move or change their nationality. This study is set to examine and
analyse the International Court of Justice?s adjudication process over the Bakassi
conflict. It also aims to clarify impartiality of the judgement passed by the court. That
is, clarification has become necessary because of the fact that the President of the
International Court of Justice when the verdict was passed was a French man and also
because Cameroon was colonised by France and these two countries maintained a
good relationship with each other in terms of trade and other aspects of international
relations. This situation of event could necessitate a hasty conclusion that the
judgement passed by the ICJ on the ownership of the Bakassi Peninsula was in way,
influenced by the historical ties that existed between France and Cameroon, and also
because France could have been favoured indirectly as a result of the positive
judgement in favour of Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula episode.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The objectives of this study are to:
? Examine the adjudication process over the Nigerian-Cameroon crisis.
? Examine the roles played by the parties involved in the conflict in securing
successes for themselves (Nigeria and Cameroon).
? Examine the role played by some great powers in the international system
peacefully bringing an end to the conflict.8
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will critically examine the bilateral relationship between France and
Cameroon and how the relationship did impact on the ICJ?s judgement over
the Bakassi Peninsula conflict. The critical analysis has become very
important in situating the conflict against the nationality of the President of the
ICJ. The study is also of significance in the aspect that it will help broaden the
reader?s knowledge on the historical background of the conflict, the actors
involved in the conflict, the conflict process, the negotiation and bargaining
process of the conflict, eventually leading to the resolution of the conflict.
1.4 HYPOTHESIS
Ho – The International Court of Justice?s adjudication process over the
Nigerian-Cameroon conflict determined the judgment of the conflict.
H1 – The International Court of Justice?s adjudication process over the
Nigerian-Cameroon conflict did not determine the judgment of
conflict.
1.5 SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of the study is between 1994, when Cameroon took the case
over the peninsula to the International Court of Justice and 2002 when
the case was resolved. As a result of the fact that it is the period in
which the role of the International Court of Justice in the resolution of
the Bakassi Peninsula began and also ended.