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And if the military diplomacy between Belize, the US and Guatemala doesn’t cool things down on the Sarstoon - then Belize can - in theory - turn to the International Court of Justice for what are called “provisional measures.â€￾  

Since we have voted yes to the ICJ, and the case is expected to be filed within a month former ICJ president Judge Stephen Schwebel has advised the Government of Belize that “it would be open to Belize to apply to the Court for its issuance of provisional measures to direct Guatemala to cease and desist from its actions on the Sarstoon.â€￾

When the media was at the seat of the ICJ in the Hague, Netherlands in November of last year, we asked two international laws experts about how these provisional measures work.  Former ICJ Law Clerk Julia Pinzauti explained the provisional measures are designed just to address events like those that are happening in the Sarstoon:..

Jiulia Pinzauti - Former ICJ Law Clerk
"That’s exactly a situation where the involvement of the court could help. I can think of other cases where the situation of course is factually very different but there were troops of one state in a territory which is disputed by two states and the court involvement was to, for example, create a de-militarized area and the troops of the two states left, and, ah, in that sense the court action was every effective. Or most recently in a dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua around Isla Portillos, Nicaraguan military personnel had built a military encampment on Isla Portillos which they claimed as Nicaraguan territory and Costa Rica claimed as Costa Rican territory. And, Costa Rica filed a request for what we call provisional measures, that is, the judgement is, of course going to take a long time before the dispute is finally settled, so, in the interim, they asked the court to order some measures of protection, and the court ordered the troops to leave the area."

Dr. Eric de Brabandere - Director, Grotius Centre for Int’l Dispute Resolution "In the majority of the cases, states do respect it.  But you have to ask for it.  But it’s a separate procedure that comes before the rest (of the case)."

Jiulia Pinzauti
"But the effects are immediate.  If a state requests for interim measures of protection, then the effects are immediate and the case is heard on the basis of urgency. And the presence of military troops in a state’s territory, or alleged territory is precisely one of the situations in which interim measures can be requested."

Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that now that both sides have agreed to go to the ICJ - he would hope that provisional measures would not have to be invoked.  Of course, these things have a cost - because international lawyers must take the cause for provisional measures before the court.  Belize has retained a highly regarded firm, Freshfields as the coordinating firm along with Essex chambers.