The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday ordered Colombia to "immediately cease" patrolling and interfering with fishing in parts of the Caribbean within Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone.

The ICJ "finds that by interfering with fishing and marine research activities of Nicaraguan-flagged vessels ... in Nicaragua's exclusive economic zone ... Colombia has violated Nicaragua's sovereign rights and jurisdiction," said the presiding judge, Joan Donoghue.

The court ruled by nine votes to six that Colombia should be ordered to stop this conduct, she said at the court's headquarters in The Hague.

The judges also ordered Colombia to change a 2013 presidential decree that established a zone around Colombian islands in the disputed area. The court said that the zone as defined by the decree was too large and the powers Colombia claims to have in the document were not in accordance with customary international law.

What is the dispute about?

Nicaragua, which in 2012 won a large swath of maritime territory from Colombia at the court, lodged a fresh case there the following year, accusing Colombia of ignoring that ruling.

The government said Colombia had threatened to use force to push through its claims in the region, which has rich fishing grounds and oil and gas deposits.

Managua also asked the ICJ to force Colombia to pay compensation for "the threat or use of force by the Colombian navy against Nicaraguan fishing boats."  

Colombia denied the accusations and said its presence in the waters was mainly for the purposes of international maritime rescue and the fight against drug trafficking.

Bogota also claimed that Managua was interfering with Indigenous fishing rights owing to the 2012 ruling, an argument rejected by the court.

Nicaragua's claim for compensation was also not granted in Thursday's ruling.

Although there are no land borders between Nicaragua and Colombia, in South America, bilateral ties have been strained for almost a century amid the row over maritime limits.

What did Colombia say?

Speaking after the ruling was handed down, Colombia's representative, Carlos Gustavo Arrieta Padilla, told journalists outside the court that he still believed "the ruling is mainly in favor of Colombia."

"[Judges] did not ask us to cease our presence in Nicaraguan waters ... They never ordered us to leave," Arrieta said.

"The court has maintained the possibility of the Colombian navy being there and doing operations in the fight against organized crime in the area," he said.

He also said Colombia could not implement aspects of the ruling before going through a "special procedure." Bogota has argued that it can change its borders only by bilateral treaty and it cannot therefore fully implement the court's 2012 ruling.

Lawyers for Nicaragua declined to comment on the ruling.

Judgments by the ICJ are final and cannot be appealed. If a country does refuse to implement them, as rarely occurs, the complainant country can refer the matter to the UN Security Council for further action.

tj/nm (dpa, Reuters)