Border dispute to drag out for another two years
Kaieteur News-The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has granted Guyana until March 8, 2022 for further submissions to be made in relation to litigation brought against neighboring Venezuela, while that country received March 8, 2023 for its counter-proposals .
The decision was passed on March 8, last by ICJ President Joan E. Donoghue.
The matter first filed by the Guyana Government in March 2018, and calling on the court to look into, “the legal validity and binding effect of the Award on the Border between the British Guiana Colony and the United States of Venezuela, of 3 October 1899. ”
ICJ President Joan E. Donoghue
In passing the latest decision, the ICJ president observed that litigation parties’ representatives, specifically a Venezuelan representative, had previously presented to the court his belief that the court clearly lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and that Venezuela had decide not to take part in the proceedings.
That directive had also been conveyed to the President of the Court in a letter dated June 18, 2018, by Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
Subsequently, the court confirmed its jurisdiction to hear the case even as Venezuela refused to participate in the case.
This was seen in the recent ICJ decision, where Donoghue noted that Venezuela had expressed its disagreement with the Judgment granted by the Court.
That country had argued that the “Agreement to Resolve the Dispute between Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Border between Venezuela and British Guiana” signed at Geneva on February 17, 1966 could not afford the Court’s jurisdiction .
The argument was based on the finding that the agreement provided that the dispute must be amicably resolved in a mutually acceptable manner.
Venezuela further noted that – according to the ICJ – it has yet to determine its position in relation to the case and, in light of the alleged serious implications of the December 18, 2020 Court Judgment for its sovereignty and that it is required by its Constitution to hold popular consultations on the issue.
This, the country noted, would require a considerable amount of time, and it also faced a number of other difficulties in preparing its plea and as such requested a period of 12 to 18 months to prepare its Counter-Memorial.
In response to the views expressed by Venezuela, Guyana noted that a 12-month period for filing each party’s written plea would also be acceptable and since then the court has given each country twelve months each to make their submissions and ‘ u subsequent counter-submissions.