The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) from November 17 to 22, 2022 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.
The hearings will be devoted to the preliminary objections raised by Venezuela in response to Guyana’s submission of its Memorial on the merits of the case. It will be recalled that Guyana brought the matter to the Court in an Application submitted on March 29, 2018. The Court confirmed its jurisdiction over the case, rejecting Venezuela’s objections, in a Judgment issued on December 18, 2020.
On March 8, 2022, Guyana filed its Memorial on the merits of its case against Venezuela. The Spanish-speaking country subsequently filed preliminary objections to the admissibility of Guyana’s Application to the Court to determine the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award.
In accordance with its rules, the Court suspended the proceedings on the merits until the determination by the Court of the matter of Venezuela’s preliminary objections.
The hearings will be streamed live, in English on the Court’s website and on UN Web TV.
The people of Guyana have remained firmly united in the quest to preserve Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. To this end, the Government invited the Leader of the Opposition to name a representative from the combined Opposition to be part of Guyana’s delegation to The Hague. That invitation has been accepted.
Guyana will be represented at the hearings by: Anil Nandlall, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs; Gail Teixeira, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance; Carl Greenidge, Agent of Guyana in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899; Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Co-Agent and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation;Donnette Streete, Director of the Frontiers Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation; and Ambassador Ronald Austin, Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition on Frontier matters.
