The Guyana-Venezuela Border Controversy is now in one of its most consequential phases before the International Court of Justice, with the written pleadings completed and the case expected to move through final oral hearings before the Court begins deliberations on a judgment that will be binding under international law.
At the center of the case is the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which fixed the land boundary between Venezuela and then-British Guiana. Guyana maintains that the award legally and finally settled the boundary. Venezuela, after accepting the boundary for decades, declared the award null and void in 1962 and has since claimed the Essequibo region, which represents more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass.
The current status follows years of legal and diplomatic action. Guyana initiated proceedings before the ICJ in 2018 after United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres determined that judicial settlement was the appropriate path forward under the 1966 Geneva Agreement. The case was referred to the Court after decades of failed attempts to settle the controversy through bilateral engagement and the UN good offices process.
Venezuela has repeatedly challenged the Court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the matter should not be decided by the ICJ. But the Court ruled in 2020 that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. OilNOW reported at the time that the Court found that both countries had conferred authority on the UN Secretary-General under Article IV of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, allowing him to choose a means of settlement under Article 33 of the UN Charter, including judicial settlement.
Guyana has consistently argued that the ICJ is now the only lawful forum for resolving the controversy. In 2023, Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, said Venezuela’s calls for direct talks were an attempt to sideline the Court. She said the World Court was “the only means of settlement” authorized under the Geneva Agreement once previous mechanisms had failed.
The controversy intensified in 2023 after Venezuela escalated its claim over Essequibo, including through a planned referendum. Guyana went back to the ICJ seeking protection against actions that could alter the status quo. In December 2023, the Court ordered Venezuela not to take any action that would modify Guyana’s administration and control of the territory pending a final decision.
Despite that order, Venezuela continued to press its claim. In April 2024, President Nicolás Maduro signed the “Organic Law for the Defense of Guayana Esequiba,” which purported to incorporate Guyana’s Essequibo region into Venezuela. Guyana rejected the move and placed the international community on notice, maintaining that Venezuela’s actions were contrary to the ICJ process and international law.
The legal process continued through written submissions. Guyana submitted its Reply to Venezuela’s Counter-Memorial in December 2024, addressing Venezuela’s arguments and stating that Venezuela’s challenges to the 1899 Arbitral Award and the international boundary were “entirely without merit.” Guyana said it remained confident that the Court would uphold the validity and binding nature of the award.
In 2025, the controversy again moved before the Court after Venezuela announced plans to hold elections for officials who would administer Essequibo as part of Venezuela. Guyana said the ICJ ordered Venezuela not to conduct or prepare to conduct elections in the territory. President Irfaan Ali said the Court had reaffirmed its December 2023 directive that Venezuela must not interfere with Guyana’s control of the territory. The order, according to OilNOW’s reporting, stated that pending a final decision, Venezuela must refrain from conducting or preparing elections in the territory that Guyana administers and controls.
Venezuela nevertheless submitted its rejoinder on August 11, 2025, responding to Guyana’s December 2024 reply. Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that filing marked the final written exchange in the proceedings. The Ministry said the Court, after returning from its summer recess, was expected to schedule oral hearings on the merits, followed by deliberations and the issuance of its final judgment.
Former Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge, Guyana’s agent before the Court, has expressed confidence that the matter can be concluded without unnecessary delay. He told OilNOW that the case had already taken a long time to reach its present stage and that there was no justifiable reason for further delay, given that the central issues are clear. Greenidge said the Court was expected to examine the written submissions from both Guyana and Venezuela before moving toward a decision.
For Guyana, the case is about securing final judicial confirmation of a boundary it says was settled more than a century ago. For Venezuela, the proceedings have become part of a wider political and territorial campaign over Essequibo, even as it has participated in the case while rejecting the Court’s authority.
The stakes extend beyond the courtroom. OilNOW has reported that the controversy has also affected offshore activity, with Venezuela extending its claim into areas of Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone and ExxonMobil unable to explore the western section of the Stabroek Block because of the territorial row. Guyana has also reported incursions by Venezuelan vessels into waters where oil production is concentrated.
ExxonMobil says Venezuela controversy blocking exploration in northern Stabroek area
The case now stands at a decisive point. The written record is complete, the Court has already ruled that it has jurisdiction, and provisional measures have been issued to prevent Venezuela from altering the status quo before judgment. What remains is the final oral phase, the Court’s deliberations and a ruling that Guyana says should finally and legally confirm the boundary established by the 1899 Arbitral Award.
