ICJ Not To Issue Provisional Measures Against Ecuador

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) did not grant the precautionary measures requested by Mexico against Ecuador in response to the assault on its embassy in Quito.

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Mexico Asks the ICJ for Precautionary Measures Against Ecuador

Previously, the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador requested the Court to indicate provisional measures pending a final decision in the lawsuit that Mexico filed against Ecuador for disrespect for its embassy.

The precautionary measures request was presented days after Ecuadorian security forces entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito by force and without authorization to detain former Vice President Jorge Glas, who had received political asylum from the Mexican state.

After analyzing the arguments of the parties, the judges considered that there is no real and imminent risk that requires issuing precautionary measures against Ecuador.

The text reads, "Mexico-Ecuador diplomatic crisis: the International Court of Justice refuses to issue the provisional measures that Mexico requested against Ecuador for the assault on its embassy in Quito. Nawaf Salam stated that no real risk was found, which is why the measures were refused."

"Unanimously, the Court finds that the circumstances, as they now present themselves to the Court, are not such as to require the exercise of its power under Article 41 of the Statute to indicate provisional measures.”

Nevertheless, when issuing its decision regarding the precautionary measures request, the International Court made reference to the importance of respecting the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

”There is no more fundamental prerequisite for the conduct of relations between States than the inviolability of diplomatic envoys and embassies, so that throughout history nations of all creeds and cultures have observed reciprocal obligations for that purpose," it said.

"In particular, the institution of diplomacy, with its concomitant privileges and immunities, has withstood the test of centuries and proven to be an essential instrument for effective co-operation in the international community, and for enabling States, irrespective of their differing constitutional and social systems, to achieve mutual understanding and to resolve their differences by peaceful means."