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On Thursday, March 6, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling in favour of Guyana. This ruling is the second one made by the court which rejects claims being made by Venezuela that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction to hear and decide the matter.
In the first instance, the Court ruled in December 2020, that it has jurisdiction to hear the merits of the case. In that instance, Venezuela had argued that the Court did not have jurisdiction and refused to participate in legal arguments on the issue held earlier in 2020.
In the more recent ruling the ICJ has underscored its authority to decide the issue. This time around, Venezuela had challenged the jurisdiction of the Court on the grounds that the United Kingdom (UK) is not a party to the case. Venezuela had argued that Guyana was a colony of the UK at the time that the border of the two countries was decided in 1899, therefore the UK must be a part of this case. The ICJ has thrown out Venezuela’s challenge and rejected that argument in a 14 – 1 ruling.
What’s next?
The ICJ, having now settled the matter of jurisdiction, will move on to hear the substance of the case.
Venezuela contends that the border decision of 1899 – called the Arbitral Award – is null and void.
Guyana’s position is that the Arbitral Award is final and valid. Guyana has always held the position that there is no “border dispute” because the matter was settled long ago. Instead, Guyana’s position is that Venezuela’s claim is illegal and has no merit.
In the ICJ’s previous hearings, Venezuela had participated minimally. It is now left to be seen whether Venezuela will fully engage with the Court when the substantive case comes up for hearing. The whole process could take several years to be resolved by the ICJ.
Once the case is finally heard and decided by the Court, that will be the end of the matter because ICJ rulings are final and absolutely binding.
A summary of the historical events that brought the matter to this point may be found on the following United Nations site.
https://dppa.un.org/en/
The ruling can be read here. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/
