…Sir Shridath urges Guyanese ahead of elections, ICJ hearing

By Svetlana Marshall
AS Guyanese prepare for the much anticipated General and Regional Elections, distinguished Diplomat, Sir Shridath Ramphal is urging citizens to remain peaceful– warning that nothing should be done to hinder the country’s progress as it gets ready to defend its territory before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Approximately three weeks after the March 2 Elections, Sir Shridath, an internationally recognised legal luminary, will lead a battery of lawyers to the ICJ to defend Guyana’s position that the world court has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the validity of the Arbitral Award of 1899 that established the boundary it shares with Venezuela. The public hearings will be conducted from March 23-27, 2020 at the Peace Palace in The Hague – the seat of the Court, and it is Sir Shridath’s hope that Guyana will let peace prevail during this critical period.

“The closing days of a national elections and the days after it when it pronounces its democratic decision, those days are fractious ones in any democracy and Guyana is not immune from this but we do have a greater need than usual to demonstrate to the world that our national motto [One People, One Nation, One Destiny] does describe us…The proceedings on the 23rd of March at The Hague will be about that destiny. It is my plea to all fellow Guyanese that between now and then, we do nothing to impair that destiny,” Sir Shridath implored.

At the time, the former Guyanese Foreign Affairs Minister and Commonwealth Secretary-General was delivering an address during the re-commissioning of the Ramphal House, which was named in his honour as Guyana’s foremost diplomat. The building houses the Protocol and Consular Services and the Foreign Service Institute. It was in a decrepit state prior to the coalition government taking office and was torn down soon after and the state-of-the-art structure was constructed.

The world will be watching
In the presence of President David Granger; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings; members of the diplomatic corps including Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana, Luis Edgardo Diaz Monclus, Sir Shridath said that “the eyes and the ears of the global community will be upon us in a few weeks-time” as the country defends its position that the Arbitral Award of 1899 remains intact.

Without any sign of uncertainty, Sir Shridath said Venezuela’s claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory – both land and maritime areas – is “baseless.” “On this matter, all of Guyana will be united in our quest for justice and this Ministry [the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] will be at the forefront of that quest…,” he told the distinguished audience. He noted that the advancement of the age-old border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela to the ICJ is as a result of the efforts of Guyana’s Governments.

“…We will be in The Hague next month to the credit of all our governments – past and present,” he noted. In its Memorial on Jurisdiction, which it submitted to the Court on November 19, 2018, Guyana maintained that the boundary was established by the Arbitral Tribunal acting pursuant to a treaty concluded by Venezuela and Great Britain in 1897.
The unanimous Arbitral Award was accepted by Venezuela. However, decades later, in anticipation of Guyana’s independence, the Spanish-speaking country stopped recognising the Award’s validity and binding nature.

Nonetheless, to ensure a final resolution to the controversy through peaceful means, the Governments of British Guiana, Venezuela and the United Kingdom concluded the Geneva Agreement, Article IV, which authorizes the Secretary-General of the United Nations to decide which of the means listed in Article 33 of the United Nations Charter should be employed. Article 33 states, among other things, that the International Court of Justice has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter with the intention of resolving the controversy.
In agreeing to Article IV, Venezuela consented to the Court’s jurisdiction in the event that the Secretary-General decided that the controversy should be resolved by the Court. It was in keeping with Article IV that the UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 30 January 2018 chose adjudication by the Court as the means for resolving the controversy with finality.

Guyana commenced proceedings before the Court on March 29, 2018 in accordance with the Secretary-General’s decision.
Venezuela, however, believes that the ICJ has no jurisdiction, and has long indicated that it will not participate in the court proceedings. Declining to submit a Memorial, Venezuela on November, 2019 instead sent the ICJ a Memorandum and issued a public Communique in support of its argument that the Court has no jurisdiction.
Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge, in presenting on the controversy at the University of Guyana late last year, made it clear that Venezuela’s absence will not affect the case. “Whether or not Venezuela participates, I wouldn’t put it as being immaterial, but it does not frustrate the work of the court. The work of the court will proceed, whether or not they participate,” Greenidge told the students.

Greenidge’s position is one held by the ICJ. According to the international court, if there are preliminary objections challenging its competence to decide on the merits of the case on the basis that it lacks jurisdiction or the application is inadmissible, it has the responsibility to decide on the way forward. “Failure by one party to appear does not prevent the proceedings from taking their course, although the court must first satisfy itself that it has jurisdiction,” the ICJ explained.

Greenidge said the Government of Guyana is confident of a win against Venezuela in both cases – the jurisdictional matter and the substantive matter treating with the validity of the Arbitral Award of 1899.