Sapodilla Cayes
ICJ to Hear Claims over Sapodilla Cayes Sovereignty
Guatemala Seeks to Join the Belize–Honduras Case
The Hague: The International Court of Justice stated today that it will hold public hearings from November 24 to 26, 2025, on Guatemala’s request to intervene in the case concerning sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes between Belize and Honduras. The proceedings will take place at the Peace Palace. Guatemala applied to intervene on December 1, 2023, under Article 62 of the Court’s Statute, stating that the subject matter overlaps with its own territorial, insular and maritime claim pending before the Court and that its legal interests may be affected by a judgment in the dispute between Belize and Honduras.
Belize instituted proceedings on November 16, 2022, requesting the Court to adjudge and declare that, as between Belize and Honduras, Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes. Belize submits that the Sapodilla Cayes are a group of small islands located in the Gulf of Honduras, approximately 75 kilometres east of Punta Gorda, including Northeast Sapodilla Caye, Frank’s Caye, Nicholas Caye, Hunting Caye, Lime Caye, Ragged Caye, West Ragged Caye and Seal Caye. In its application, Belize states that the Court has jurisdiction pursuant to Article XXXI of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (the Pact of Bogotá) and Article 36 (1) of the Statute of the Court. Honduras ratified the Pact in 1950, and Belize acceded to it in 2022. Belize notes that neither State has entered reservations to the Pact.
Belize submits that the Sapodilla Cayes formed part of its territory since the early nineteenth century, initially within the settlement of Belize and later the British colony of British Honduras, and after 1981 as part of the independent State of Belize. It states that sovereignty was exercised publicly, peacefully and continuously through acts including jurisdiction by magistrates, regulation of fishing and entry, the granting of licences and concessions relating to natural resources, the establishment of lighthouses, the definition of maritime zones by reference to the cayes, and the conduct of military and coast guard operations in the surrounding waters.
Belize maintains that Honduras acknowledged British sovereignty before Belize’s independence. The application cites a 1913 letter from the Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs thanking British authorities for naval action to prevent revolutionary activity on the islands, referring to them as belonging to the British colonial government. Belize submits that Honduras first asserted a claim to the cayes shortly before Belize’s independence in 1981, and that the United Kingdom rejected this claim. Belize refers to statements made during the proceedings on Belize’s admission to the United Nations in September 1981, in which Honduras asserted a claim to the islands and the United Kingdom responded by reaffirming that sovereignty passed to Belize on independence.
Following Belize’s independence, Honduras included a claim to the Sapodilla Cayes in its 1982 Constitution. Belize states that despite cooperative bilateral relations, recent diplomatic exchanges show that Honduras considers itself constitutionally required to continue asserting the claim, and that the dispute therefore remains unresolved at the international level. Belize submits that it now seeks a final and binding resolution before the Court, stating that such a judicial settlement supports the stability of bilateral relations.
Belize’s application requests the Court to adjudge and declare that Belize is sovereign over the Sapodilla Cayes and reserves the right to supplement or amend its submissions during the proceedings. Belize has appointed Ambassador Assad Shoman as Agent and Ambassador Alexis Rosado as Co-Agent.
The Court’s hearings in November 2025 will first address whether Guatemala may intervene and on what terms. Consideration of the merits of the sovereignty dispute between Belize and Honduras will follow separately at a later stage.
– global bihari bureau
