On 7 June 2022 Venezuela submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) a second preliminary objection based, on this occasion, on the argument that the United Kingdom is an indispensable third party, without the consent of which the Court cannot adjudicate upon the dispute.
Guyana contended that under Article 79 b of the Court’s Rules, Venezuela cannot challenge the Court’s jurisdiction which had already been pronounced upon in 2020 and is res judicata (already decided). It is also time-barred, argued Guyana, because it ought to have been raised within the time specified in the Court’s order of 19 June 2018.