Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugos

INTERNATIONAL COURTOFWSTICE

Peace Palace, 2517 KJ The Hague. Tel: +31 (0)70 302 23 23. Cables: Intercourt,
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[email protected]. Internet address: http://www.icj-cij.org.

PressRelease
Unofficial

No. 2003/5

27 January 2003

Application for Revision o(the Judgment o(ll July 1996 in the Case concerninApplication
of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and
Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections(Yugoslavia v. Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Court to deliver its Judgment on Monday 3 February 2003 at 3 p.m.

THE HAGUE, 27 January 2003. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal
judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Judgment in the case concerning the

Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11July 1996 in the Case concerning Application of
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and
Herzegovina_y,_Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections (Yugoslavia v. Bosnia and Herzegovina), on
Monday 3 February at 3 p.m. at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seate Court.

This judgment will address the question the admissibility of the Application for revision

filed by Yugoslavia.

Historyof the Proceedings

On 24 April2001, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) filed an Application for
revisionof the Judgment delivered by the International Court of Justice on 11 July 1996 in the case

concerning the Applicationof the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections.

In that case, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20 March 1993 instituted proceedings before the
Court against Yugoslavia concerning a series alleged violations of the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and concerning various questions which

were, in the Applicant's view, linked to these violations. In its Application, Bosnia and
Herzegovina relied upon Article IXf that convention as the basis for the jurisdiction of the Court.
Article IX reads as follows: "Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the
interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the
responsibilityf a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be

submitted to the International Court Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute."
Bosnia and Herzegovina subsequently invoked additional bases for jurisdiction. On 26 June 1995,
Yugoslavia filed preliminary objections challenging the jurisdictionof the Court and the
admissibilityof the Application. In the above-mentioned Judgment of 11 July 1996 (see Press
Release No. 96/25), the Court rejected the preliminary objections raised by Yugoslavia.und
that it had jurisdiction to deal with the case on the basisle IX of the Genocide Convention,

dismissing the additional bases jurisdiction invoked by Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Court
further found that the Application filed by Bosnia and Herzegovina was admissible. - 2 -

Yugoslavia based its Application for revision of24 April2001 on Article 61 of the Statute of
the Court, which provides that:

"1. An application for revision of a judgment may be made only when it is

based upon the discovery of sorne fact of such a nature as to be a decisive factor,
which fact was, when the judgment was given, unknown to the Court and also to the
party claiming revision, always provided that such ignorance was not due to
negligence.

2. The proceedings for revision shall be opened by a judgment of the Court
expressly recording the existence of the new fact, recognizing that it has such a
character as to lay the case open to revision, and declaring the application admissible

on this ground.

3. The Court may require previous compliance with the terms of the judgment
before it admits proceedings in revision.

4. The application for revision must be made at latest within six months of the
discovery of the new fact.

5. No application for revision may be made after the lapse often years from the

dateofthe judgment."

In its Application, the FRY contended that a revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 was
necessary since it was clear that it had never continued the legal personalityf the Socialist Federal

Republic ofYugoslavia; that at the time of the reading of this Judgment, it was not a Member of
the United Nations, an organization it had joined on 1November 2000; and that it was not a State
party to the Statute of the Court, and was also not a State party to the Genocide Convention, which
is only open to United Nations Members orto non-member States to which an invitation to sign or
accede has been addressed by the General Assembly. In the submissions in its Application,

Yugoslavia requested the Court to declare that "there [was] a new fact of such a character asto lay
the case open to revision under Article61 ofthe Statute ofthe Court".

On 3 December 2001, within the time-limit fixed by the Court for this purpose, Bosnia and
Herzegovina filed written observations on the admissibility of the Application for revision made by
the FRY. In its observations, Bosnia and Herzegovina contended that the conditions set under
Article 61 of the Statute of the Court were not met in this instance; it consequently requested the

Court "to adjudge and declare that the Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996,
submitted by ... Yugoslavia ... [was] not admissible".

Hearings were held from 4 to 7 November 2002. As provided in Article 61 of the Statute,

they have been devoted to the question of the admissibility of the Application for revision filed by
Yugoslavia. At the conclusion of the oral proceedings the Parties presented their final submissions
to the Court. The FRY has requested the Court to adjudge and declare that "there are newly
discovered facts of such a character as to lay the 11July 1996 Judgment open to revision under

Article61 of the Statute of the Court; and that the Application for Revision of the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia [was] therefore admissible." Bosnia and Herzegovina has requested the Court to
adjudge and declare "that the application for revision submitted by. . . Yugoslavia on

23 April2001 [was] not admissible".

* - 3 -

NOTE TO THE PRESS

1. The public sitting will be held in the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in The Hague,

Netherlands. Mobile telephones and beepers are allowed in the courtroom provided they are turned
off or set on silent mode. Any offending deviee will be temporarily retained.

2. Members of the Press may attend on presentation of a press card. The tables reserved for

them are situated to the far left of the public entrance to the courtroom.

3. Photographs and TV shots may be taken for a few minutes only at the opening of the
sitting. The Court's proceedings will be displayed live on a large TV screen in the Press Room,

located on the ground floor of the Peace Palace (Room 5). In the Press Room, it will be possible for
TV crews to connect recording equipment directly to the Court's new video system, but advance
notice of this should be given to the Information Department. There is also a facility for the
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4. At the end of the sitting, a press release, a summary of the Court's Judgment and the full
text of the Judgment will be distributed in the Press Room.

5. All the above-mentioned documents will also be available at that time on the Court's
website (www.icj-cij.org).

6. Members of the Press who wish to make telephone calls may use the phone located in the

Press Room for collect calls or the public telephones in the Post Office in the basement of the
Peace Palace.

7. Mr.ArthurWitteveen, First Secretary of the Court (tel: +31-70-3022336), and

Mrs. Laurence Blairon and Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officers, are available to deal with any
requests from the Press and for the requirementsof TV crews (tel: +31-70-302 2337; e-mail address:
information@icj-cij .org).