- ICJ reserves ruling in border case between Guyana and Venezuela
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has postponed its decision on Guyana’s claim that it has evidence that Venezuela plans to take over the mineral- and forest-rich county of Essequibo in a referendum on December 3.
Both Guyana and Venezuela made presentations to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during two days of hearings into the case relating to the 1899 Arbitral Award after Guyana requested that the Venezuelan government, through its National Electoral Council, publish a list of five questions that it intends to put before the people of Venezuela in a “Consultative Referendum” next month.
“According to the applicant, the purpose of this referendum is to “obtain responses that would support Venezuela’s decision to abandon [the current proceedings before the Court] and instead resort to unilateral measures to’resolve’ the controversy with Guyana by formally annexing and integrating into Venezuela all of the territory at issue in these proceedings, which comprises more than two-thirds of Guyana,” the ICJ stated.
The 15-member CARICOM grouping, the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, and the Organisation of American States (OAS) have all condemned the referendum, claiming that international law forbids one state’s government from unilaterally seizing, annexing, or incorporating the territory of another. They further stated that the referendum could lead to a violation of this fundamental premise of international law.
At the conclusion of the public hearings on Wednesday, ICJ President Judge Joan Donoghue informed the parties that they will be notified of the date on which the court would issue its decision in due course.
“I will request that both agents remain available to the court for any additional information the court may require.” “The court will issue its order on Guyana’s request for the indication of provisional measures as soon as possible,” Judge Donoghue stated.
Guyana petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018 to have the 1899 Arbitral Award, which defined the border between Venezuela and then-British Guiana, affirmed as legally binding. The 1899 verdict was also mentioned in this application as a’full, perfect, and final settlement’ of all concerns concerning the delineation of borders between Venezuela and the British Guiana province.
