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Judgement on Preliminary Objections raised by Venezuela in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela)

April 3, 2023

The Judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the preliminary objection raised by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela), will be read in open court on Thursday 6 April 2023, at 3 p.m., at the Peace Palace.

Venezuela filed preliminary objections to the admissibility of Guyana’s Application to the Court to determine the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award on 7 June 2022. In the oral hearings which were conducted from 17 to 22 November 2022, Venezuela contended that the United Kingdom is an indispensable third party to the case, which should not be allowed to proceed in its absence. Guyana argued that the United Kingdom is not indispensable because it has no legal interests that would be affected by a judgment on the validity of the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899, which fixed the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela, or any interests in the boundary itself, such interests having terminated in May of 1966, upon Guyana’s independence.

The reading of the Judgement will be broadcast live on the Court’s website and on UN Web TV. Guyana will be represented at the reading of the Court’s decision by:

  • Mr. Carl Greenidge, Agent of Guyana in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899;
  • The Honourable Mohabir Anil Nandlall, S.C, M.P, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs;
  • Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Co-Agent and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation;
  • Mr. Paul S. Reichler, Lead Counsel, Attorney-at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the District of Columbia;
  • Professor Philippe Sands KC, Professor of International Law at University College London, 11 King’s Bench Walk, London; and
  • Professor Pierre d’Argent, Professor ordinaire, Université Catholique de Louvain, member of the Institut de Droit International, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bar of Brussels.
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