Application of the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro): Catching the Conscience of the Judges

Abstract

Earlier this year, on 27 February, a mass demonstration was held in Sarajevo, where 10,000 victims of the Srebrenica genocide expressed their disillusionment with the judgment of the International Court of justice ('ICJ') handed down a day earlier. On 26 February 2007, the ICJ had delivered its decision in the Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro) {'Genocide Convention Case (Merits)'). One of the victims in the demonstration carried a banner where it was ironically written that 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men were killed by 'aliens'. This is just one indication that the ICJ's decision will have far-reaching consequences regarding the stability of this troubled region. This article examines the decision from a substantive point of view and attempts to shed new understanding on the decision.