Effectively, the ruling assigns the islands to Equatorial Guinea.
The parties involved brought their dispute before The International Court of Justice in 2021 to ascertain the legal arrangement that decides ownership of the oil-rich islands.
A 15-judge panel ultimately identified a 1900 treaty between Spain and France, which allocated colonial territories, as the definitive authority.
A later agreement, the 1974 Bata Convention, which assigns the islands to Gabon, was negated as “not a treaty having the force of law,” as determined by Judge Julia Sebutinde.
The document was challenged by Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon did not present an authentic copy to the court.
Equatorial Guinea had control of the region until 1972, when Gabon seized the biggest island, Mbanie, through military force. The dispute resurfaced with the discovery of oil in the nearby waters.
Both countries’ economies are heavily reliant on oil, although production from existing reserves has been on the decline in recent years.
Once diplomatic attempts to resolve the issue repeatedly failed, the countries requested the court to settle the ownership question.
