Foreign Affairs Minister updates commonwealth delegation on Guyana/Venezuela border case

Mar 16, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd has updated Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth on Guyana’s legal battle with Venezuela in the decades-old border controversy case currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The minister reiterated the appreciation of the Government of Guyana for the Commonwealth’s steadfast and consistent support for Guyana’s efforts in the maintenance and preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Todd spoke on the case when he participated in the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM2023) at Marlborough House, London on Wednesday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd during the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM2023) at Marlborough House, in London.

The meeting focused on several areas of priority including building resilience for peaceful, just, and stable societies; financing for climate resilience and environmental sustainability and leveraging Intra-commonwealth trade and digital connectivity.

Minister Todd during his intervention stated that the Government of Guyana is prioritising democracy, good governance, human rights, and the rule of law as fundamental elements in its developmental approach. Minister Todd further noted that the Government recognises that development would not be sustainable if it does not occur in a framework where these elements are given primacy.

The minister also took the opportunity to update the Foreign Ministers on the status of the case. The ICJ is yet to determine the case filed by Guyana on March 29, 2018. Guyana seeks to obtain from the Court a 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 brought its 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.

In taking his decision, the Secretary-General was exercising the power vested in him in the 1966 Geneva Agreement between Guyana, Venezuela and the United Kingdom to decide how the controversy should be settled.

Venezuela has claimed, in a letter to the Court, that the Secretary-General exceeded his authority under the Geneva Agreement, and that the Court therefore lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate Guyana’s lawsuit. On this basis, Venezuela has initially indicated that it will not participate in the proceedings.

On November 19, 2018, Guyana submitted its Memorial to the Court refuting Venezuela’s arguments and demonstrating that the Court has jurisdiction. The ICJ has since ruled that the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

Under the United Nations Charter and the Court’s own rules, its final judgments both on jurisdiction and the merits will be legally binding on Guyana and Venezuela, whether or not Venezuela participates in the proceedings. The Government of Guyana has therefore welcomed the prospect of a final and binding decision by the Court that will definitively resolve this longstanding controversy, and allow Guyana and Venezuela to proceed to develop excellent and close relations as neighbouring states.

• Commonwealth, Foreign Ministers, Guyana, Hugh Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation