ICJ to hear Guyana-Venezuela border case next month

Apr 23, 2026 News

(Kaieteur News) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on May 4 begin several days of oral hearings on the merits of Guyana’s case against Venezuela on the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC has said.

During his programme, ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday night, Nandlall said he would be joining Guyana’s team of international lawyers in The Hague in the Netherlands for the hearing.

The AG noted that the hearings would be held from May 4 to 8, and could be carried over to the following week.

ICJ to hear Guyana-Venezuela border case next month

The ICJ Headquarters is located in The Hague Netherlands.

Attorney General Nandlall disclosed that Guyana has already filed two written pleadings on the merits of the case, while Venezuela has also submitted two pleadings, the most recent of which was filed in August 2025.

While outlining developments within the legal system, Nandlall stated that the Attorney General’s Chambers, in coordination with the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is preparing Guyana’s legal team and materials for the hearing.

Guyana instituted the case in March 2018, following a determination by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres that the International Court of Justice was the appropriate mechanism for resolving the longstanding controversy between the two countries.

Guyana is seeking the court’s confirmation that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the international boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, is legally valid and remains binding on both states under international law.

Although Venezuela recognised the validity of the award and accepted the established boundary for more than 60 years, it reversed its position on the eve of Guyana’s independence, rejected the Award, and asserted a claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, encompassing the Essequibo Region.

Venezuela previously sought to have the case dismissed, filing two objections to the court’s jurisdiction in 2019 and 2022, respectively. Both objections were rejected by the court by overwhelming majorities. Venezuela’s non-recognition of the tribunal award means that it continues to lay claim to the 160,000 square kilometre mineral and forest-rich Essequibo Region and Guyana’s exclusive economic zone off that region.

In December 2023, following Guyana’s request prompted by Venezuela’s threats to seize and annex Guyana’s territory, the ICJ ordered both parties to refrain from any actions that could disturb Guyana’s administration and control of the disputed territory while the case remains pending.

In a subsequent statement, the Government of Guyana expressed full confidence that it has demonstrated in its Reply that Venezuela’s challenges to the Arbitral Award and the international boundary—outlined in its Counter-Memorial—are entirely without merit, and that the Court will ultimately affirm the validity, finality, and legally binding nature of both the Award and the established boundary.

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1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award, Guyana/Venezuela border, Hague, ICJ, Netherlands

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