By Devina Samaroo
More money may be needed to fund the border controversy case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge announced today at a press briefing.
The Guyana Government earmarked US$15 million of the signing bonus it received from oil giant ExxonMobil to cover the expenses that it will incur during the process of the case before the World Court. The remaining US$3 million was set aside for training.
But Minister Greenidge told reporters at his South Road, Georgetown office that the allotted funds may be insufficient, depending on the duration and requirements of the case.
“It is not possible for me to say what it will cost, the lawyers themselves don’t know,” he explained.
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, a need may arise for additional skills and research and this will require supplementary funds.
“The US$15M may not be adequate,” Minister Greenidge said.
He said as the need arises each year, a fraction of the signing bonus – which is being kept in a special account at the Bank of Guyana – will be transferred to the Consolidated Fund in order to be released.
“So for 2018, the Minister of Finance [Winston Jordan] will down the road come for supplementary [funding] and it will be indicated at that time,” he explained.
The Guyana Government has already initiated legal proceedings at the ICJ in regards to Venezuela’s longstanding claim that the 1899 Arbitral Award – which had settled the countries’ border – is invalid.
There are reports that former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal will lead the Guyanese legal team but Minister Greenidge said he is not prepared to comment, at this time, on the identities of the lawyers who will be representing Guyana.
Minister Greenidge said the World Court has already invited the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to respond. He explained that the Venezuelan Government can respond by saying they are not interested in having the case heard at the ICJ or they can submit a response explaining they do not think the World Court should not address the case or they can choose to participate.
He explained that the first business of the World Court, however, is to determine whether it has jurisdiction to address the matter.
“Almost automatically, the Court will make a determination on whether the matter is within its jurisdiction. That’s a routine, all of them do that…Having looked at the case and determined where they can look and where they can look, what is within their powers, they will say to the two parties ‘we will begin’ in which case, Guyana will be required to submit a full document of its case,” he explained.
Minister Greenidge said this process could require oral hearings and written submissions from both countries.
The Foreign Affairs Minister noted too that it is possible for the World Court to “walk away” from the case on several grounds and in this regard he cautioned the media, ministers and the public to be cautious in what they say or report on this very “sensitive” matter.
Minister Greenidge made it clear that once the court establishes its jurisdiction and proceeds to address the issue, its ruling will be binding regardless if Venezuela does not participate in the process.
