– until border controversy with Venezuela resolved

MARITIME boundary talks between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana and Barbados have been stalled as a result of the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.

However, it is expected that upon the conclusion of that matter, which is currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), talks will resume.
In fact, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge told reporters Monday that at the recently concluded CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Jamaica, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley indicated her willingness to engage in maritime talks with Guyana.
However, there have been no technical or political discussions between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago or Guyana and Barbados on the maritime boundaries for a number of years.

Guyana shares maritime space with several countries, among them Barbados, Brazil, Trinidad, Suriname and Venezuela.
Said Minister Greenidge, “The maritime space is a space shared by many countries, and if it is a shared space, then two of you can’t negotiate definitively in a manner that binds the others.

“As I said, we have had the experience of one state at least negotiating with another and purporting to yield or cede territories that would normally be considered Guyana’s to themselves.”

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea does not empower two states to negotiate the space belonging to three and bind three. All three or four have to be involved for them to be bound, as such making it difficult for Guyana to negotiate with any one territory to the exclusion of the others.

In 1990, Venezuela and Trinidad had signed a delimitation of maritime space pact which infringes upon Guyana’s maritime boundary as well as Barbados’. Barbados had moved to the UN to challenge the legitimacy of the 1990 Delimitation Agreement, which acknowledges Venezuela’s claims to most of Guyana’s maritime territory.
Meanwhile, Minister Greenidge told reporters that preparations are in train as regards Guyana’s readiness to submit its memorial to the ICJ by November 19, 2018.

WRITTEN PLEADINGS
The ICJ said the written pleadings in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 between Guyana and Venezuela must first address the question of the jurisdiction of the Court and fix the time-limits for the filing of these pleadings.

In a release, the court said by an order dated June 19, 2018, it fixed November 19, 2018 and April 18, 2019 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by Guyana, and a Counter-Memorial by Venezuela.

Venezuela had indicated that it will not participate in the court’s proceedings.
Guyana’s legal team is led by Sir Shridath Ramphal, but there are a plethora of overseas lawyers from a variety of countries who are skilled in such matters.
Guyana has been receiving guidance from lawyers who have worked at the ICJ before, while there are lawyers working at the Foreign Affairs Ministry who are part of the team. Minister Greenidge, when asked, declined to disclose the names of the attorneys, but noted that the lawyers come from three chambers, and that other attorneys will be brought on board to assist when necessary.

One of the main chambers is MATRIX based in the UK. One of the lawyers working with Guyana on the border case is a Professor of Law at the Oxford University.
Guyana had filed an 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. As such, the ICJ invited representatives of both Guyana and Venezuela to meet at the ICJ in The Hague, seat of government of the Netherlands, to fix schedules for written pleadings.

In its Application, Guyana is requesting the Court “to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the Award Regarding the Boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela, of 3 October 1899 (hereinafter the ‘1899 Award’).”
Guyana is contending that the 1899 Award was “a full, perfect, and final settlement” of all questions relating to determining the boundary line between the colony of British Guiana and Venezuela.