Context: As Somalia grapples with the staggering challenge from the COVID-19 pandemic, chances are that the June 8 public hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Somalia’s maritime dispute with Kenya will be deferred yet again. 
About the dispute

• The dispute is between Somalia and Kenya on the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.
• The disputed area is roughly 1,00,000 sq km and contains huge deposits of oil and gas.
• The dispute is rooted in a disagreement over which direction the two countries’ border extends into the Indian Ocean.
• Somalia argues that the maritime boundary should continue on in the same direction as the land border’s southeasterly path.
• Kenya, meanwhile, insists that the border should take a roughly 45-degree turn at the shoreline and run in a latitudinal line, giving Nairobi access to a larger chunk of the sea.

Efforts to find a solution

• Under a 2009 Memorandum of Understanding, each granted the other no objection to presenting separate submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) concerning the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. 
• The parties also committed to finding a settlement in accordance with international law on the basis of the CLCS’s recommendations.
• But, In 2014 Somalia called on the International Court of Justice in The Hague to resolve the dispute. In October 2019 the ICJ postponed the hearing until 8 June 2020.

International implications

• The dispute has drawn international attention, owing in part to the ramifications for the international energy market and the promise for lucrative oil and gas contracts. 
• The United Kingdom and Norway have expressed support for Somalia, while the United States and France have backed Kenya’s claim.

About Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)

• The purpose of the Commission is to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. 
• Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 M on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission.

Its Functions

• The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of those limits; its recommendations and actions shall not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.

Members of the Commission

• The Commission shall consist of twenty-one members who shall be experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography, elected by States Parties to the Convention from among their nationals, having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation, who shall serve in their personal capacities.