Peru brings maritime dispute with Chile before the ICJ News
Peru brings maritime dispute with Chile before the ICJ

[JURIST] Peru filed an application [press release] with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] Wednesday over its ongoing maritime boundary dispute with Chile. Peru has been threatening to bring the case before the ICJ since the court resolved a similar dispute [JURIST reports] between Nicaragua and Honduras in October 2007. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet [official website] and Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley immediately denounced the application [123 Noticias report], but it is unclear whether Chile will reject the ICJ's jurisdiction, as commentators have predicted.

The case between Chile and Peru is the latest in a series of disputes regarding the boundaries of Latin American countries brought before the ICJ pursuant to the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement [text]. After issuing a final opinion [PDF opinion; press release] on the case between Nicaragua and Honduras, the court is presently evaluating disputes between Nicaragua and Costa Rica [order, PDF] and between Nicaragua and Colombia [ruling, PDF]. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage [in Spanish].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org