The World Court on Thursday April 6 in The Hague sided with Guyana against Venezuela in a ruling, News Room reported. Fifteen judges heard the arguments in the case and made a written ruling. President of the International Court of Justice, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, read the Court’s 14-1 judgement on Thursday at a sitting of the Court in The Hague.
Initially, Venezuela filed preliminary objections to the admissibility of Guyana’s Application for a final settlement of the border controversy to the Court and 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, and as such the case should not be allowed to proceed in its absence.
Guyana, however, as News Room reported, 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.
Attached is the map of Guyana and Venezuela as per News Room.
The Court agreed with Guyana’s arguments.