I. THE TREATY BASIS OF THE TITLE OF BELIZE

215. The title of Belize to its territory is supported, in the first instance, by two treaties: the 1859 Convention and the 1931 Exchange of Notes. Both these treaties are valid and binding. The definition of the boundary in the first of these treaties establishes that the territory to the west and south of the defined boundary is Guatemalan and that the territory on the east and north of the defined boundary belongs to Belize. The identification of the boundary pillars in the 1931 treaty inescapably indicate that the territory on the west belongs to Guatemala and that on the east belongs to Belize. The territory of Belize thus defined corresponds to the territory of Belize to-day.

216. The 1859 Boundary Convention is a boundary treaty and not a treaty of cession of Guatemalan territory to the United Kingdom. The Guatemalan contention that the 1859 Convention has been terminated because of alleged non-fulfilment of Article VII of the Convention by the United Kingdom cannot be sustained.

217. Even if the 1859 Convention could lawfully have been terminated by Guatemala this would not have re-established any Guatemalan claim to the territory of Belize. For one thing, at no time prior to 1859 did Guatemala have any title to the area of Belize, whether by way of succession to Spain or otherwise, which it could have ceded to Britain. So there was no Guatemalan title that could have reverted to it upon the alleged ending of the 1859 Convention. For another, even if Guatemala had had title to Belize prior to 1859, the boundary established by the Convention, and the British title to the territory of Belize that it acknowledges, acquired an independent life that would have survived regardless of the demise of the Convention.

II. THE CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW BASIS OF THE TITLE OF BELIZE

218. The title of Britain and, since independence, of Belize is also sustained by considerations of customary international law.

219. Britain acquired title to the territory of Belize by occupation beyond the limits of the Anglo-Spanish Treaties of 1783 and 1786 as far south as the River Sarstoon prior to the acquisition of independence by Guatemala in 1821. There was thus no basis on which Guatemala could validly invoke the doctrine of uti possidetis juris in support of its claim to Belizean territory. Nor has Guatemala ever occupied, possessed or administered any part of the territory of Belize. Its claim is a paper claim without substance.

220. In the period from 1821 to 1850 Britain further consolidated its title to Belize by a process of historical consolidation of title or of acquisitive prescription both of which are fully recognised by international law.

221. Guatemala has both actively and passively acquiesced in and accepted Britain's title to Belize during the period prior to the independence of Belize. Guatemala had dealings with Britain in relation to the territory of Belize which could only have taken place on the basis of British title. Until relatively recently, Guatemala did not protest against British title, but only complained of the alleged non-fulfilment of Article VII of the 1859 Convention.

222. It was open to Guatemala to have challenged Britain's title in the period 1946-1956 by proceedings in the International Court of Justice, but it did not do so. Guatemala has never been willing to have its claim adjudicated on a basis of law, but only on an ex aequo et bono basis, which means a basis other than law. This limited willingness to adjudicate on a non-legal basis cannot serve to preserve any legal rights that Guatemala may claim and confirms the absence of a legal basis for Guatemala's claim.

223. The right of Belize to its territory is confirmed by the principle of self-determination, a well-established norm of modern international law. The people of Belize were entitled to determine their future. They did so at the time of independence in 1981. Their right to do so was consistently recognised virtually unanimously by the Members of the United Nations and Belize was admitted as a Member State of the United Nations in the full knowledge by its Members of Guatemala's claims. No State has recognised Guatemala's claim.

224. The title of Belize extends also to the islands and islets lying off the mainland shore. The right of Belize to those islands flows from its title to the adjacent mainland to which the islands are appurtenant as well as from Britain's occupation of those islands. The legal dependence of these islands upon the mainland was recognised even as early as 1850.

225. On the basis of international law and on the evidence considered, Belize has good title to all its territory including the islands and islets lying off the mainland shore. The claim to Belizean territory by the Republic of Guatemala is without merit and in our opinion would be regarded as such by the International Court of Justice.

(Signed)

Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC

Judge Stephen M Schwebel

Professor Shabtai Rosenne

Professor Francisco Orrego Vicuña

29 September, 2001

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