Celebrating the Benin-Niger ICJ Judgment (By Reading It Aloud)

According to this report, Benin has officially taken possession of islands it was awarded in a 2005 ICJ judgment resolving a long standing border dispute with its neighbor Niger. Plaudits for this peaceful resolution should go to all parties in involved, including the ICJ, which cranked out a definitive judgment in a mere four years (2001-2005). Of course, it helped that the two countries had submitted to the ICJ’s jurisdiction under a special agreement, essentially turning the ICJ into a glorified arbitral tribunal.



In any event, during the celebration ceremonies, Benin officials apparently read the entire 65 page, 146 paragraph ICJ judgment aloud! Yikes! Must have been some party. I hope they served lots of beer or something…