GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana says it is confident the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will uphold the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the country’s border with Venezuela after the completion of all submissions in the historic case, leaving only the court’s final judgement outstanding.
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips speaking in the National Assembly on Friday. (Photo credit: DPI)Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, delivering a statement in the National Assembly on Friday, said all submissions in the case had now been completed, bringing to an end eight years of proceedings before the world’s highest judicial body.
“Guyana is more confident than ever that the Court will uphold the legal validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award and the finality and permanence of the international boundary between Guyana and Venezuela,” Phillips told legislators.
The prime minister said the oral hearings concluded on May 11 in The Hague, leaving only the court’s deliberations and final judgement to be issued.
While no date has yet been announced for the ruling, Phillips said ICJ judgements are typically delivered within six to eight months of the conclusion of oral hearings, suggesting a decision could come between November 2026 and January 2027.
He stressed that the court’s ruling will be legally binding on both Guyana and Venezuela under the United Nations Charter and the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
“The very fact that this case reached the ICJ and that the written and oral phases of the proceedings were carried out to their completion represents a triumph for the rule of law and the rules-based international order,” he said.
Phillips reiterated Guyana’s longstanding position that disputes between states should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, rather than through threats or the use of force.
The prime minister said Guyana’s legal team presented compelling arguments during the recent hearings, exposing what he described as the lack of merit in Venezuela’s claims.
Phillips noted that the court’s final ruling is expected to bring closure to a controversy that began in 1962 when Venezuela challenged the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award after more than six decades of recognising and respecting the established boundary.
“The oral hearings established that Venezuela made this very belated protest precisely at the time Guyana was nearing its independence and when British troops would be departing,” he said.
Since then, Guyana has successfully defended the court’s jurisdiction against repeated challenges by Venezuela.
