ICJ Sets Dates For Guyana, Venezuela To Make Written Submissions

• Dates have been set by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for written second-round pleadings by Guyana and Venezuela in the ongoing border case.
• Per the ICJ’s order, Guyana has until December 9, 2024, to make submissions. Venezuela has until August 11 of the following year.
• Agents from both Guyana and Venezuela had determined earlier this month that the second round of written pleadings was necessary after Venezuela’s Counter-Memorial in April. Guyana had initially suggested October 8 to make its submission while Venezuela wanted 12 months after to make theirs, a timeline considered excessive to Guyana.
• The case concerns the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which determined the boundary between the two South American nations more than a hundred years ago. In 1962, some 63 years after accepting the boundary, Venezuela claimed the Award was null and void, reanimating a claim for two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.
• After years of discussions between the two countries under the United Nations Good Offices Process failed to deliver a resolution, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred the matter to the ICJ in 2018. In international law, 'good offices' refers to diplomatic and humanitarian initiatives by a third country or a neutral institution aimed at resolving a bilateral or international conflict.
• Furthermore, diplomatic tension between Guyana and Venezuela remains high over the disputed territory of Essequibo. In March 2024, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro passed a law declaring the border region of Essequibo, which belongs to Guyana, a Venezuelan federal state.

(Sources: Oil Now & NCBCM Research)