Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia) - The Court directs the submission of a Reply by the Republic of Croatia and a Rejoinder by

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org

Press Release
Unofficial

No. 2010/3
18 February 2010

Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia)

The Court directs the submission of a Reply by the Republic of Croatia

and a Rejoinder by the Republic of Serbia and fixes time-limits
for the filing of these pleadings

THE HAGUE, 18 February 2010. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial
organ of the United Nations, has directed the submission of a Reply by the Republic of Croatia and

a Rejoinder by the Republic of Serbia in respect of the claims presented by the Parties in the case
concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia).

In an Order dated February2010, the Court fixed 2Decembe2 r010 and
4 November 2011 as the respective time-limits for the filing of these written pleadings.

The Court took account of the fact that the Counter-Memorial filed by Serbia on
4 January 2010 contains counter-claims in the form of the following submissions:

“On the basis of the facts and legal arguments presented in this

Counter-Memorial, the Republic of Serbia respectfully requests the International
Court of Justice to adjudge and declare:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4. That the Republic of Croatia has violated its obligations under the

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by
committing, during and after the operation Storm in August 1995, the following acts
with intent to destroy as such the part of the Serb national and ethnical group living in
the Krajina Region (UN Protected Areas North and South) in Croatia:

⎯ killing members of the group;

⎯ causing serious and bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and

⎯ deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about
its partial physical destruction. - 2 -

5. Alternatively, that the Republic of Croatia has violated its obligations under
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by

conspiring to commit genocide against the part of the Serb national and ethnical group
living in the Krajina Region (UN Protected Areas North and South) in Croatia.

6. As a subsidiary finding, that the Republic of Croatia has violated its

obligations under the Convention on the Prev ention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide by having failed and by still failing to punish acts of genocide that have
been committed against the part of the Serb national and ethnical group living in the
Krajina Region (UN Protected Areas North and South) in Croatia.

7. That the violations of international law set out in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 above
constitute wrongful acts attributable to the Republic of Croatia which entail its
international responsibility, and, accordingly,

(1) that the Republic of Croatia shall imme diately take effective steps to ensure
full compliance with its obligation to punish acts of genocide as defined by
ArticleII of the Convention, or any othe r acts proscribed by ArticleIII of the

Convention committed on its territory before, during and after operation Storm;
and

(2) that the Republic of Croatia shall redr ess the consequences of its international

wrongful acts, that is, in particular:

(a) pay full compensation to the members of the Serb national and ethnic
group from the Republic of Croatia for all damages and losses caused by

the acts of genocide;

(b) establish all necessary legal conditions and secure environment for the
safe and free return of the members of the Serb national and ethnical

group to their homes in the Republic of Croatia, and to ensure conditions
of their peaceful and normal life including full respect for their natio
nal
and human rights;

(c) amend its Law on Public Holidays, Remembrance Days and
Non-Working Days, by way of removing the ‘Day of Victory and
Homeland Gratitude’ and the ‘Day of Croatian Defenders’, celebrated on
the 5th of August, as a day of the triumph in the genocidal operation

Storm, from its list of public holidays.”

Given the absence of objections by Croatia to the admissibility of the above-mentioned
counter-claims, the Court did not consider that it was required to rule definitively at this stage on

the question of whether the said claims fulfilled the conditions set forth in Article 80, paragraph 1,
of the Rules of Court.

The Court stated that it was also appropriate, “in order to ensure strict equality between the

Parties, to reserve the right for Croatia to express its views for a second time in writing within a
reasonable time-limit on Serbia’s counter-claims, in an additional pleading whose submission may
be dealt with in a subsequent Order”.

In order to protect the rights which third States entitled to appear before the Court derive
from the Statute, the Court instructed the Registrar to transmit to them a copy of the Order.

The subsequent procedure was reserved for further decision. - 3 -

History of the proceedings

For the history of the proceedings, please see Pr ess Releases Nos. 2008/7, 2008/12, 2008/41
and 2009/7, which are available on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org).

___________

The full text of the Court’s Order will soon be available on its website. Readers are

reminded that written pleadings remain confidential until such time as the Court decides to make
them accessible to the public, generally at the opening of the oral proceedings.

___________

Information Department:

Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)

Ms Joanne Moore, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)
Ms Barbara Dalsbaek, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0) 70 302 2396)