THE International Court of Justice (ICJ) will from today hold a week-long public hearing in the case involving the Guyana Essequibo region dispute between that country and Venezuela.
Oral hearings are expected to be held at the Peace Palace in The Hague. A release from the ICJ stated that the public hearing will concern the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 (Guyana vs Venezuela).
TERRITORIAL CLAIM: Delcy Rodriguez
The Arbitral Award was a decision by an international tribunal in Paris that awarded the majority of the disputed Essequibo region to British Guiana (now Guyana).
Venezuela is claiming that the Award is flawed and should be resolved through the 1966 Geneva Agreement process.
In March 2018, Guyana filed an application, beginning proceedings against Venezuela in relation to “the legal validity and binding effect of the (Arbitral) Award regarding the boundary between the Colony of British Guiana (Guyana) and the United States of Venezuela of 3 October 1899”.
Also in 2018, Venezuela informed the ICJ that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case and that the country decided not to take part in the proceedings.
However, a December 18, 2020 judgement found that the ICJ had jurisdiction to entertain the application concerning the validity of the Arbitral Award and related questions of definitive settlement of the land boundary dispute between the two countries.
The ICJ stated last week, “Further to the filing of a preliminary objection by Venezuela on 7 June 2022, the court, in its judgment of 6 April 2023, rejected that preliminary objection and found that it could adjudicate upon the merits of Guyana’s claims, in so far as they fall within the scope of the court’s jurisdiction as defined in the operative clause of the judgment of 18 December 2020.”
The issue of the Essequibo region dispute between Guyana and Venezuela again made headlines days ago when Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriquez, during Caricom engagements, donned a brooch that looked like a map of Venezuela which included the Essequibo region.
This prompted Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali to write Caricom’s chairman Dr Terrance Drew.
He said, “The use of Caricom engagements to project or promote a territorial claim against a member state risks being interpreted as acquiescence or tolerance.”
Ali said the issue of the Essequibo region was before the ICJ for final adjudication and that “Guyana remains fully committed to the peaceful resolution of this matter in accordance with international law. We continue to repose our confidence in the court and to respect its processes and eventual judgement”.
Rodriguez became the acting President of Venezuela following a United States military operation at the beginning of the year that led to the capture and removal of then-president Nicolas Maduro.
He is facing charges before a New York court.
