Guyana 'smart' to approach UN
-Suriname lawyer
Stabroek News
March 13, 2004
A Suriname lawyer has described as smart Guyana's move to the United Nations to have the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea settle its maritime border dispute with Suriname.
The attorney, Freddy Kruisland was reported by the Surinamese daily, De Ware Tijd yesterday as saying that if Guyana had gone to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Suriname would have been able to counter by presenting the dispute regarding the New River Triangle area and the Corentyne River to the court.
Kruisland said that Paramaribo would be prevented from doing so before the Hamburg tribunal and he believes that Suriname should have moved to the World Court over its New River Triangle claim a long time ago.
On February 24, Guyana notified Suriname that it had moved to the binding arbitration process of the Hamburg tribunal for a settlement of its maritime border dispute, given that bilateral negations had been fruitless. It has named former Attorney General Shridath Ramphal SC as its agent and Foreign Minister Rudy Insanally as its co-agent, and they are supported by a legal team, which includes Paul Reichler. Suriname has thirty days from February 24 to name its arbitrator.
Earlier in the week DWT also reported that Suriname was in the process of hiring an international expert on border disputes to present its case to the Hamburg tribunal in reply to that filed by Guyana.
The paper said that the Suriname government had contacted international law firms with expertise and experience in border disputes and DWT quotes Suriname's Foreign Minister, Marie Levens, as saying a definite choice would be made soon. Levens is also quoted as saying that the preparation of Suriname's case was going well and that she thought that her country could make its case.