Diorella Velasquez

Preah Vihear 2013 Judgment(summary)

The November 13, 2013 decision of the ICJ on the Preah Vihear
Temple dispute between Cambodia and Thailand was from an
earlier decision where the court ruled that Cambodia had
sovereignty over the Preah Vihear temple. In 2011 requested the
court to render an interpretation of the 1962 decision that ruled
that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the
sovereignty f Cambodia and ruled that the area under Cambodian
sovereignty is the whole territory of the promontory of Preah
Vihear. Cambodias request for interpretation was Challenged by
Thailand, but the court stated there was a need for interpretation
concerning the withdrawal of Thai forces stationed at the temple,
or its vicinity in Cambodian territory. The main dispute in the
request for interpretation by Cambodia is concerning the extent of
the vicinity or area of the Temple of Preah Vihear. The Court
concluded that it was not necessary to further address the
question whether the 1962 judgment determined with binding
force the boundary line between the two states The 1962
Judgment determined with binding force the boundary line
between the two states. The court stated that the 1962 judgment
the court was not asked to delimit a boundary line in the original
case and therefore could not do so in its interpretation, except to
clarity Cambodian sovereignty in the area of the Preah Vihear
temple. The court did state that both Cambodia and Thailand
would have much work to do in determining their boundary line
with precision, and hoped that the recent decision will help end
the tension between the countries that existed iver the Temple
and Cambodia-Thailand boundary.