– to fix schedules for written pleadings

GUYANA and Venezuela have both been invited to meet with President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on June 18, 2018 to fix a schedule for the filing of written pleadings in the border controversy case.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said following Guyana’s filing of its application with the ICJ on March 29, 2018, requesting the Court to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award regarding the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, the ICJ has invited representatives of both Guyana and Venezuela to meet at the Hague, Netherlands-based court to fix schedules for written pleadings.

“This is part of the Court’s normal procedure following the filing of a case. The meeting with the President of the Court will be limited to the matter of the schedule.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Guyana will be represented by its legal counsels.

On Tuesday, Venezuela announced that it has accepted an invitation by the ICJ to appear before it to sort out procedural issues. Venezuela has long claimed sovereignty over the Essequibo region of Guyana. According to that country’s Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Venezuela’s decision to go to the Netherlands to participate in the court proceedings followed a missive from the ICJ received on June 4, 2018.

The missive said the President of the Court will receive representatives of Guyana and Venezuela on June 18, 2018 “in order to know the points of view of the parties regarding the procedural issues.”

“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, faithful to its historical position and in accordance with Bolivarian Peace Diplomacy, reiterates its firm willingness to defend the territorial integrity of our country based on the 1966 Geneva Agreement, the legal framework that governs the territorial dispute of Essequibo,” the Venezuelan statement said.

Earlier this year, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres referred the Guyana/Venezuela controversy to the ICJ. Venezuela is claiming that the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award, which had given more than 90 per cent of an area to then British Guiana (now Guyana), is null and void. Approximately 118 years after that award was issued, Guyana remains resolute in its position that a juridical course of action is the only means through which this matter can be permanently resolved.

On Wednesday, President Granger reaffirmed Guyana’s position, noting that the border controversy has been ongoing for over 50 years, further noting that Guyana “struggled long and hard”. He believes that the decision taken by the UN Secretary-General to refer the matter to the ICJ “is the correct decision” and Guyana looks forward to moving forward in that process. “We want our future generations to be able to live in a country that is not under the shadow of Venezuela’s threats. We feel this is the correct decision and we want to move ahead as quickly as possible,” said President Granger.

Guyana in its application to the ICJ has highlighted that Venezuela had for more than 60 years consistently recognised and respected the validity and binding force of the 1899 Award and the 1905 map agreed by both sides in furtherance of the award. “Venezuela had only changed its position formally in 1962 as the United Kingdom was making final preparations for the Independence of British Guiana and had threatened not to recognise the new State, or its boundaries, unless the United Kingdom agreed to set aside the 1899 Award and cede to Venezuela all of the territory west of the Essequibo River, amounting to some two-thirds of Guyana’s territory,” a statement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry back in March had said.

Guyana has stated that while Venezuela has never produced any evidence to justify its belated repudiation of the 1899 Award, “it has used it as an excuse to occupy territory awarded to Guyana in 1899, to inhibit Guyana’s economic development and to violate Guyana’s sovereignty and sovereign rights.”

The UN Secretary-General’s authority to choose the ICJ as the means for resolving the controversy is rooted in the Geneva Agreement of 1966, negotiated just before Guyana attained Independence. Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge said that Guyana, in filing its application to the ICJ, has respected the Secretary General’s decision and placed its faith in the ICJ to resolve the controversy in accordance with its statute and jurisprudence, based on the fundamental principles of international law, including the sanctity of treaties, the maintenance of settled boundaries and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States.