The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Venezuela must not take any action to seize the mineral and forest-rich county of Essequibo in Guyana based on its upcoming December 3 referendum.
The order was given by Judge Joan E. Donoghue, President of the Court on Friday, who stated that “unanimously both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve.”
Both Guyana and Venezuela had made presentations to the ICJ during two days of hearing earlier this month into the case relating to the 1899 Arbitral Award after Guyana, in its request, had said that the Venezuela government, through its National Electoral Council had published a list of five questions that it intends to put before the people of Venezuela in a “Consultative Referendum” on Sunday.
In its ruling, the ICJ issued a number of provisional measures that “unanimously pending a final decision in the case, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela shall refrain from taking any action, which would modify the situation that currently prevails in the territory in dispute, whereby the Cooperative Republic of Guyana administers and exercises control over that area”.
“The court emphasizes that the question of the validity of the 1899 Award and the related question of the definitive settlement of the land boundary dispute between Guyana and Venezuela are matters for the court to decide at the merits stage,” Judge Donoghue added.
She continued, “The court recalls that Guyana has requested to indicate measures aimed at ensuring the non-aggravation of the dispute with Venezuela when indicating provisional measures for the purpose of reserving specific rights.”
Guyana applied to the ICJ in 2018 to have the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the border between Venezuela and the then-British Guiana, confirmed as legally enforceable. The 1899 ruling was likewise cited in this application as a ‘full, perfect, and final settlement’ of all issues pertaining to drawing the borders between Venezuela and the British Guiana province.
During the ICJ sitting earlier this month, Venezuela vowed to go ahead with its referendum as it seeks to gain ownership of the Essequibo in Guyana.