10 NEWS
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
Guyana-Venezuela border controversy
Tobacco Control Bill without enforcement is pointless – PAHO
ICJ to begin hearings on jurisdiction case on June 30 T T
he International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to begin hearing the jurisdiction case in the Guyana/ Venezuela controversy on June 30. The Hague-based court has announced that it will begin oral hearings on the question of the Court’s jurisdiction in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, between Guyana and Venezuela. The hearings are scheduled to commence at 14:00h and would be conducted via videoconference. This virtual hearing is as a result of the ongoing restrictions due to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The ICJ had postponed the long-anticipated hearing of the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy case that was scheduled to begin on March 23, 2020, citing the coronavirus pandemic. In a previous notice, ICJ had informed the parties of the schedules for the upcoming public hearings to determine whether the Court has jurisdiction to preside over the matter. Guyana filed its case with the World Court on March 29, 2018, seeking a final and binding judgment that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between the then-British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela as is being claimed by the Spanish-speaking country. Guyana moved to the World Court after exhausting all means of negotia-
International Court of Justice
tion with Venezuela. United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, in January 2018 decided that the case should be settled by the ICJ after exercising the powers vested in him to decide how the controversy should be settled by the 1966 Geneva Agreement between Guyana, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. However, Venezuela had claimed, in a letter to the World Court, that the Secretary General exceeded his authority under the Geneva Agreement, and therefore, the Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the lawsuit filed by Guyana. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was estab-
lished by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 Judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorised United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
hree years after the Tobacco Control Bill was passed, little has been done to ensure that the provisions are enforced, and persons culpable face penalisation. On Friday, Pan American Health Organisation Representative, Dr William Adu-Krow said that such laws are useless if they aren’t enacted. His remarks came on the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday under the theme: “Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use”. Adu-Krow stated, “Sometimes I lament over the issue that people who have to be working harder than we are, are not. I’m saying this with a clean conscience…We need to be doing more. If we’re serious, we have to show it in what we do. Otherwise, we will pass laws after laws after laws and get practically get nowhere.” It was mentioned that the Ministry needs to employ effective campaigns and advertisements to capture the attention of all ages. This was backed by Chairperson of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation,
Kesaundra Alves, who represented the caretaker Public Health Minister. She insisted that while “a lot” needs to be done, they are constrained by financing. “A lot more needs to be done in relation to enforcement. We have a comprehensive piece of legislation; if implemented completely, can really fight tobacco epidemic. A lot more needs to be done. I believe one bugbear has been funds, to make this possible. PAHO has put a lot of money into tobacco control in terms of public education, ads.” According to Alves, human resources to are needed to monitor key locations where tobacco is sold, to ensure vendors are keeping with the guidelines. “The Ministry of Public Health needs to focus on training of enforcement officers so that they know what their role is in terms of enforcing the Tobacco Control Act. That is something that should’ve been done this year…Enforcement needs to be ramped up. It is too slow and I hope that we don’t [lose] momentum…We need foot soldiers out there and, in some regard, the Ministry of Public Health does not have all the resources required to ensure enforcement,” the Chair highlighted. TURN TO PAGE 12