Dr Lloyd Barnett, correctly referred to in a recent Gleaner editorial as “a lawyer and constitutional scholar”, has impactfully alerted us in an article in the Sunday Gleaner to the longstanding reality that: “An important factor that must be taken into account is that the experience of many countries is that it is very difficult to obtain a majority vote of the electorate for constitutional changes, especially if a major political party is opposed to the change. It is also the experience that, where non-controversial as well as controversial issues are put to the electorate (for example, in a referendum), there is likely to be a generally negative vote so that the non-controversial matters suffer as a result.”
The Peace Palace, which houses the International Court of Justice, is seen in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) The United Nations’ high court held Friday it has jurisdiction to hear a South American border dispute dating back to the 1800s.
The International Court of Justice found it has the authority to rule in the matter between Venezuela and Guyana. The two have been fighting over the disputed Guayana Esequiba territory since 1814. The case at hand involves an 1899 tribunal decision awarding the land to what was then known as British Guiana.
The ruling is a win for Guyana, which argued this past summer in The Hague-based court’s first virtual hearing that the ICJ judges should decide the case.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Guyana on Tuesday asked the World Court to confirm the demarcation of its land border with Venezuela, part of a long-running dispute between the South American neighbours with potential implications for offshore oil rights.
Representatives of Guyana asked judges at the United Nations court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to confirm that the border was laid down in an 1899 arbitration between Venezuela and the then-colony of British Guiana.
“We are here today because contrary to international law and to the biding award of 1899, our neighbour to the west (Venezuela), has cultivated a nationalist passion to.lay claim to almost three quarters of Guyana,” Guyana’s representative before the court, Shridath Ramphal, told judges.
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HAGUE (CMC):
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will this week rule whether it has jurisdiction in the border dispute filed by Guyana against Venezuela, which is seeking to confirm full legal validity of the 1899 arbitral award, which established the international boundary between the two countries.
The ICJ said it will hand down the ruling at a public sitting on Friday.
Former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal had led the Guyana team of lawyers who outlined the country’s case on June 30.
He had argued that Guyana’s collective patrimony is at the very centre of the case and that the people of Guyana were united in the defence of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their homeland.