ICJ to hear arguments on jurisdiction in Guyana/Venezuela border case on Tuesday

Public hearing on the question of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) will open on Tuesday 30 June 2020 at 2 p.m. at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.

The delegation of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana will present its oral arguments from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has informed the Court that it will not participate in the oral proceedings, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a release.

In view of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the hearing will take place in the Great Hall of Justice via videoconference. Some Members of the Court will be physically present, the others will participate remotely, and the representatives of Guyana will address the Court by video link.

Guyana is seeking final and binding judgment that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then-British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela. Guyana had taken the case to the court following the decision by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in January 2018, that the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela should be decided by the International Court of Justice.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.