ICJ to hear Guatemala’s bid to intervene in Belize-Honduras territorial dispute
Key Points(5)
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has announced that it will hold oral hearings in November to determine whether Guatemala will be allowed to formally intervene in the ongoing territorial dispute between Belize and Honduras over the Sapodilla Cayes.
- According to Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the hearing is scheduled for November 24, 2025, at the Court’s seat in The Hague.
- The proceedings will focus exclusively on Guatemala’s December 2023 application to intervene, a move grounded in Article 62 of the ICJ’s Statute, which permits third-party intervention when a state believes it has a legal interest that could be affected by the outcome of a case.
- The dispute centers on sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes, a cluster of small but strategically significant islands in Belize’s southern maritime zone, near the maritime boundary with Honduras.
- Belize initiated proceedings before the ICJ on November 16, 2022, seeking a formal declaration that the territory belongs to Belize.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has announced that it will hold oral hearings in November to determine whether Guatemala will be allowed to formally intervene in the ongoing territorial dispute between Belize and Honduras over the Sapodilla Cayes.
According to Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the hearing is scheduled for November 24, 2025, at the Court’s seat in The Hague. The proceedings will focus exclusively on Guatemala’s December 2023 application to intervene, a move grounded in Article 62 of the ICJ’s Statute, which permits third-party intervention when a state believes it has a legal interest that could be affected by the outcome of a case.
The dispute centers on sovereignty over the Sapodilla Cayes, a cluster of small but strategically significant islands in Belize’s southern maritime zone, near the maritime boundary with Honduras. Belize initiated proceedings before the ICJ on November 16, 2022, seeking a formal declaration that the territory belongs to Belize. The country submitted its written memorial in May 2023, and Honduras responded with a counter-memorial in December 2023. Both sides agreed at that stage that further written submissions would not be necessary.
However, Guatemala’s application complicates the process. While Belize has not opposed Guatemala’s request to join the proceedings, Honduras has objected, arguing that Guatemala does not have a direct legal interest in the case. Guatemala, for its part, asserts that it maintains longstanding claims over the Sapodilla Cayes—claims it says are closely tied to its own territorial dispute with Belize, which is also pending before the Court following national referenda in both countries.
In its application, Guatemala says its aim is to “safeguard its rights and interests” over the area and to assist the Court by offering information on the “nature and extent” of its own claims that may be affected by any decision in the Belize-Honduras matter.
Officials in Belmopan say the Office of the Agent will collaborate closely with Belize’s international legal team to ensure that the country’s sovereignty claims are robustly defended, both in this hearing and in the broader territorial case. A ruling on Guatemala’s intervention request is expected before the main proceedings resume in the Belize-Honduras dispute.
The case has drawn regional attention given the overlapping maritime claims in the Gulf of Honduras and the ongoing ICJ arbitration between Belize and Guatemala—a matter stemming from a 19th-century territorial claim that has yet to be definitively resolved.
