GUYANA (Commonwealth Union)_Guyana urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday to dismiss Venezuela’s preliminary objections to the two countries’ boundary dispute as “both legally irreversible and utterly without merit”. “Guyana will demonstrate today that Venezuela’s preliminary objections are both legally unsupportable and completely without foundation,” stated Carl Greenidge, Guyana’s Agent in the matter involving the October 3, 1899 Arbitral Award.
Greenidge told the panel of judges, chaired by its president, Joan E. Donoghue, that the ICJ ruled in December 2020 that it has jurisdiction over the issue, rejecting Venezuela’s objections. Then, on March 8, 2022, in compliance with the Court’s Order of March 8, 2021, Guyana filed its Memorial on the merits of its case against Venezuela. He stated that Guyana has been complying with court requirements because the country is dedicated to international law, and that Venezuela’s preliminary objections are a ploy to postpone the Court’s evaluation of Guyana’s merits in the boundary dispute.
Greenidge believes this technique is all the more obvious given Caracas’s refusal to participate in previous ICJ trials. However, he told the panel that Venezuela’s tardy involvement with the Court suggests that the government is now accepting the Court’s validity in resolving this dispute. Greenidge stated on Friday: “…it is clear that it respects the validity of the Court’s function, its capacity to dispense justice, and the binding ramifications of the Court’s orders and judgments.”
Venezuela stated earlier this week that the ICJ could not hear the case and that the 1899 Arbitral Award represents a full, final, and perfect settlement of the two countries’ land boundary because Britain is not a participant to the proceedings. Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez told the ICJ that her government maintains that the ICJ has jurisdiction to hear the issue, while encouraging the court to rule that Guyana’s complaint is inadmissible.
