# Somalia v. Kenya: the sea border case at the International Court of Justice > The ICJ case Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v. Kenya), 2014 to 2021: the claims, the timeline, the ruling, the votes, the map and Kenya's response. Source page: https://calankii.com/en/government/somalia-v-kenya-icj-maritime-case/ Last checked: 2026-11-13 Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com) ## What was the case about? [Somalia and Kenya](/en/relations/kenya/) disagreed about where their border runs out to sea, starting from the coast near [Ras Kamboni](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/). The area both countries claimed was about 160,580 square kilometres of ocean ([Anadolu Agency, 19 Mar 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)). It includes blocks Kenya had offered for oil and gas exploration. - **Somalia's claim:** a line running south-east, roughly continuing the direction of the land border (the equidistance method). - **Kenya's claim:** a line running straight east, along the parallel of latitude. Kenya said Somalia had accepted this line for more than 35 years ([Anadolu Agency, 19 Mar 2021](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-feels-betrayed-by-somalia-over-maritime-dispute/2181763)). ## How did the case unfold? From the ICJ case record ([ICJ, case 161](https://www.icj-cij.org/case/161)): - **28 August 2014:** Somalia files its application against Kenya. - **7 October 2015:** Kenya objects that the Court has no jurisdiction and that the two countries had agreed to negotiate. - **2 February 2017:** the Court rejects Kenya's objections and decides to hear the case ([ICJ, Judgment on preliminary objections](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20170202-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)). - **2019 to 2021:** hearings set for September 2019 are postponed to November 2019, June 2020 and March 2021, at Kenya's request and then because of COVID-19. - **15 to 18 March 2021:** hearings held in hybrid form. Kenya does not take part. It told the Court three days before that it would stay away, because its request for another delay was refused ([ASIL Insights, vol. 25, issue 25](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)). - **24 September 2021:** Kenya withdraws its declaration accepting the Court's compulsory jurisdiction ([International Legal Materials, Cambridge](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-legal-materials/article/maritime-delimitation-in-the-indian-ocean-som-v-kenya-icj/7D7F76A302095EFD18B97B0D0139B9C9)). - **12 October 2021:** the Court gives judgment on the merits ([ICJ, Judgment of 12 Oct 2021](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)). ## What did the Court decide? From the judgment and the ASIL summary ([ICJ judgment](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf); [ASIL Insights](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)): 1. **No agreed border.** The Court found that Somalia had not accepted Kenya's line along the parallel of latitude. So it had to draw the border itself. 2. **Territorial sea (to 12 nautical miles).** A median line, using points on the two mainland coasts and leaving out small islets. 3. **Economic zone and continental shelf (to 200 nautical miles).** The Court drew an equidistance line, then moved it north to a bearing of 114 degrees from a point called Point A. It said the straight line would cut off Kenya's maritime area because of the inward curve of the coast from Somalia to [Tanzania](/en/diaspora/tanzania/), an effect made stronger by Tanzania's Pemba Island. The line ends where it meets Kenya's 200-mile limit, at **Point B**, 3° 4′ 21.3″ S, 44° 35′ 30.7″ E ([ICJ judgment](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)). The vote was 10 to 4. Judges Abraham, Yusuf, Bhandari and Salam voted against (same source). 4. **Beyond 200 nautical miles.** The same line continues to the outer edge of the continental shelf. The vote was 9 to 5. Judge Robinson joined the four judges named above in voting against this part only (same source). 5. **Somalia's claim against Kenya.** Somalia complained of surveying and drilling that Kenya carried out or authorised in the Lamu Basin, including offshore oil concession blocks L-5, L-13, L-21, L-22, L-23, L-24 and L-26. The Court unanimously rejected Somalia's claim that Kenya's activities in the disputed area broke international law and that Kenya owed reparation ([ICJ, Judgment, operative clause](https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/161/161-20211012-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf)). ## Who gained what? The ASIL authors, three maritime boundary specialists, estimate ([ASIL Insights](https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/25/issue/25/world-court-fixes-somalia-kenya-maritime-boundary-technical-considerations-and)): - The area both sides claimed was split about **77 to 23 in Somalia's favour**. - Kenya still kept about **64 percent** of the jurisdiction it had claimed. - About **75 percent** of Kenya's three offshore oil and gas blocks in the area fall on the Somali side. The same authors argue the territorial sea line runs nearly 13 nautical miles, past the 12-mile limit. They also note the ruling is final and cannot be appealed (same source). ## How did each country respond? - **Kenya:** President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected the ruling "in totality" and said Kenya did not recognise its findings, arguing that international courts have jurisdiction only as far as a state consents ([Garowe Online, Oct 2021](https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/uhuru-rejects-icj-ruling-on-maritime-border-row-as-farmaajo-fights-back)). He called the decision "zero-sum" and said the matter must be negotiated ([Nation, Oct 2021](https://nation.africa/kenya/news/politics/icj-decision-zero-sum-solution-must-be-negotiated-says-uhuru-kenyatta-3581390)). Kenya's foreign ministry also said it did not recognise the judgment ([BBC News, 12 Oct 2021](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58885535)). - **Somalia:** President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo welcomed the ruling, thanked the Court for upholding the rule of law and asked Kenya to respect it ([VOA, Oct 2021](https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-welcomes-international-court-decision-on-kenya-maritime-dispute-/6268795.html); [The Star, 13 Oct 2021](https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/africa/2021-10-13-somalia-asks-kenya-to-accept-maritime-ruling-after-icj-verdict)). Two legal scholars later studied how Kenya's withdrawal from the Court's compulsory jurisdiction affects future cases ([Benatar and Schatz, Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea, 2024](https://doi.org/10.1163/29501636-01010007)). A technical study rebuilt the line point by point ([Bekker, Schofield and van de Poll, International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 2022](https://doi.org/10.1163/15718085-bja10104)). ## Related pages - [Kenya and Somalia: Somalis in Kenya](/en/diaspora/kenya/) - [Fishing and the sea](/en/economy/fishing-and-the-sea/) - [Oil and gas](/en/economy/oil-and-gas/) --- I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.