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Guyana on Tuesday submitted its Memorial on the merits of its case against Venezuela to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, thereby defending the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in a statement, said the submission was in keeping with the orders of the World Court following its December 18, 2020 decision confirming its jurisdiction to decide the merits of Guyana’s claims.
“The matter is before the Court pursuant to the decision of the Secretary General of the United Nations under the 1966 Geneva Agreement, by which the parties conferred upon the Secretary General the authority to determine the means by which the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela shall be settled,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry reminded.
It added: “Guyana seeks from the Court a decision that the Arbitral Award of 1899 determining the boundary is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and that the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement demarcating it, is the lawful boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.”
In its earlier decision, the ICJ agreed that it has jurisdiction to do so.
Guyana is looking forward to a judicial settlement that would bring an end to the decades old controversy.
“This year sees the 56th anniversary of the 1966 Geneva Agreement. Guyana considers that the true commemoration of that Agreement is in contributing in good faith to the fulfilment of its true meaning and intent by participating fully in the current juridical process deriving from it. Hence the submission today to the International Court of Justice of Guyana’s Memorial on the Merits as required by the Court,” the Ministry said.
