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Qatar

Qatar wins legal battle over air blockade

Published: 15 Jul 2020 - 11:31 am | Last Updated: 02 Nov 2021 - 02:09 am
H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport and Communications

H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport and Communications

The Peninsula & Agencies

Qatar emerged victorious at top UN court as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled yesterday that the country has the right to challenge airspace restrictions imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt before the UN’s aviation body — the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Since June 2017, the blockading countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt) have prohibited Qatar-registered aircraft from flying to or from their airports and overflying their national airspaces, in flagrant violation of international law.

In two judgements released yesterday, the ICJ rejected all three grounds of appeal raised by the blockading states, finding that the ICAO has jurisdiction to hear Qatar’s claims.

The ICAO Council will now resume its proceedings. The president of the ICJ, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said the Hague-based court unanimously “rejects the appeal” by the rival states against a decision by the world civil aviation body in favour of Qatar over sovereign airspace, AFP reported.

The court also “holds that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has jurisdiction” in the case, by 15 judges to one, Yusuf said, according to AFP. The ICJ’s 16-judge panel ruled that appeals filed by Qatar’s neighbours against several decisions of ICAO should be dismissed, reported Reuters.

Qatar has welcomed the ruling that it can challenge airspace restrictions at the ICAO. Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti said: “We welcome today’s decision by the ICJ that will see the blockading states finally face justice for violating international aviation rules. We are confident that the ICAO will ultimately find these actions unlawful. This is the latest in a series of rulings that expose the bockading countries’ continued disregard for international law and due process. Step by step their arguments are being dismantled, and Qatar’s position vindicated.”

The Government Communications Office (GCO) in a statement said that since the start of the illegal blockade in June 2017, Qatar has maintained that the blockading states have acted illegally and in violation of international law.

This verdict is the latest in a series of international judgements vindicating this position and finding in favour of the State of Qatar. It follows a ruling by the World Trade Organization in June that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia breached global trade rules by failing to take action against, and instead actively promoting, broadcast pirate beoutQ.

Qatar’s decision to bring claims before the ICAO follows repeated attempts to negotiate an amicable settlement, which have been consistently rejected by the blockading states.