botswana/namibia - Cour international de Justice

Botswana and the Caprivi Zipfel to a point on the said boundary due north of the beacon situated at Ngoma:
...thence in a westerly and north westerly direction following the southern edge of the said road from Lesuma to
Kasane to its point of intersection with the boundary of the freehold property known as the Chobe River Hotel;
thence in a southwesterly direction following the said Chobe River Hotel boundary to beacon KH 3 being a
beacon on the said boundary; thence in a straight line south-westwards to beacon KH 8 being a beacon situated
on the boundary of the leasehold property adjacent to the Chobe River Hotel; thence in a straight line
northwestwards to beacon KH 7 being a beacon on the southern bank of the Chobe River situated approximately
three hundred and twenty-five yards south west of the Chobe River Hotel; thence in a straight line to the point of
commencement....
Note: All bearings are measured on true North. Firebreaks are recorded on Forestry Dept. Map FD 1/9 filed with
the Ministry of Agriculture.']
632. The earliest Plan available, No.TP 6-72-1 dated 15 May 1975, prepared by the
Department of Regional Planning, shows the land limits of the Park as described in the
Schedule joining up with the international boundary along the Chobe River but no points or
beacons are marked.
633. The 1967 Schedule was amended by Statutory Instrument No.126 of 1980 (Botswana
Counter-Memorial, Annex 33) which did not alter the location of the limit of the Park in the
vicinity of the Chobe but particularised it in words and by reference to marked points. Plan
BP 179, reproduced at page 255, shows points Y at Ngoma and Z due north in the centre of
the Chobe River;both channels around Kasikili/Sedudu are shown with the international
boundary drawn in the northern channel; an inset enlargement of Kasane shows point B on the
fringes of Kasane and the line delimiting the Park takes an L-shaped route to arrive at point A
shown in the centre of the river with the international boundary proceeding northwestwards
into the eastern sector of the northern channel.
G43 - Chobe National Park, Plan BP-179, 1:250,000, 1980, Department of Surveys and
Lands, Gaborone (Map 23 in Supplementary Atlas
G44 - Chobe National Park, Plan BP-179(a), 1:250,000, 1980, Department of Surveys and
Lands, Gaborone (Map 24 in Supplementary Atlas)
634. The limits were again amended in 1983 and Plan BP 179-a, which was a duplication of
the 1980 Plan, BP 179, and is reproduced at p.257, shows no change in the river sector.
Similarly, in 1987, Statutory Instrument No.9, Plan BP-205, drawn to the smaller scale of
1:350,000, shows a wide black line joining the international boundary as it rounds the Island
in the northern channel..'
635. The limits of the Park from the first date of promulgation in 1968 followed the
international boundary in the Chobe River and all the Plans make it clear that boundary ran
along the northern channel of the river.
(I) General conclusions on Map evidence
636. The general conclusions on the map evidence are as follows:-
I. Map evidence is of little assistance in the present case because it is inaccurate and
inconsistent in its placement of the boundary.