The limitations of international law at the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission and its implications for future conflict

Campbell, John

Abstract

This paper examines the litigation strategies adopted by Eritrea and Ethiopia before the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission convened at The Permanent Commission of Arbitration at The Hague between 2001 and 2009. I pursue insights from the work of Laura Nader concerning how, through binding arbitration, the international community imposes its power on disputing parties as opposed to allowing their competing legal claims to be fairly decided. The claims examined by this paper concern who started the border war and that Ethiopia denationalized ‘Eritrean’ nationals and unlawfully deprived them of their property. I conclude that the PCA’s decisions on Eritrea and Ethiopia were flawed and that its deliberations need to be viewed in a much wider political context; furthermore its decisions contributed to further political instability in the Horn of Africa.

Citation

Campbell, J. (2021). The limitations of international law at the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission and its implications for future conflict. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 15(4), 604-623. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2021.1989136

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 24, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 15, 2021
• Publication Date: Oct 15, 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 8, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 31, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Eastern African Studies
• Print ISSN: 1753-1055
• Electronic ISSN: 1753-1063
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 604-623
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2021.1989136
• Related Public URLs: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjea20/current