The case was put forward to settle a territorial dispute between the two countries, particularly over a strip of land called the Aouzou Strip which Libya had occupied since the Chadian–Libyan War, and an area which Libya called the Libya–Chad Borderlands or simply the Borderlands.

The allegiances and loyalties of these tribes were pursued by different actors during their conflicts in Chad, destabilising the Chadian state.

Partly in response to the spill-over of this instability on its border, Libya invaded the Aouzou Strip in 1973 before engaging in a series of interventions through the 1980s during the Chadian–Libyan War.

[8] The Aouzou Strip is a barren, uranium-rich piece of land located in the Borderlands on the border of Chad and Libya.

[9] Libya had begun to stage troops on the strip in order to assist with the defense of its citizens who lived in the area.

Despite the land having no strategic or functional value to Chad, the government saw the Aouzou Strip as part of their sovereign territory.