The Court decides that the declarations of intervention filed by seven States are admissible

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2024/55
3 July 2024
Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) The Court decides that the declarations of intervention filed by seven States are admissible
THE HAGUE, 3 July 2024. By an Order dated 3 July 2024, the International Court of Justice decided on the admissibility of the declarations of intervention filed by seven States in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar).
In its Order, the Court,
“(1) Unanimously,
Decides that the declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute submitted by the Republic of the Maldives is admissible in so far as it concerns the construction of provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
(2) Unanimously,
Decides that the declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute submitted jointly by Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is admissible in so far as it concerns the construction of provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”
In accordance with Article 86 of the Rules of Court, the seven States concerned will therefore be allowed to submit their written observations on the subject-matter of their interventions. The Court will determine at a later date whether they should be authorized to make observations in the course of the oral proceedings.
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A summary of the Order appears in the document entitled “Summary 2024/7”. This summary and the full text of the Order are available on the case page on the Court’s website.
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History of the proceedings
On 11 November 2019, The Gambia filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against Myanmar concerning alleged violations of the Genocide Convention. In its Application, The Gambia requests, among other things, that the Court adjudge and declare that Myanmar has breached its obligations under the Convention, that it must cease forthwith any internationally wrongful act, that it must perform the obligations of reparation in the interest of the victims of genocidal acts who are members of the Rohingya group, and that it must offer assurances and guarantees of non-repetition. As a basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, the Applicant invokes Article IX of the Genocide Convention. The Application was accompanied by a request for the indication of provisional measures.
On 23 January 2020, the Court made an Order indicating a number of provisional measures, requiring among other things that Myanmar, in relation to the members of the Rohingya group in its territory, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the Genocide Convention; take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of such acts; and submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to the Order within four months, as from the date of the Order, and thereafter every six months, pending a final decision in the case by the Court.
By a further Order dated 23 January 2020, the Court fixed 23 July 2020 and 25 January 2021 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by The Gambia and a Counter-Memorial by Myanmar. By an Order dated 18 May 2020, these time-limits were extended to 23 October 2020 and 23 July 2021, respectively. The Memorial of The Gambia was filed within the time-limit thus extended.
On 20 January 2021, Myanmar raised preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the Court and the admissibility of the Application.
On 22 July 2022, following public hearings, the Court delivered its Judgment, in which it rejected the preliminary objections raised by Myanmar and found that it had jurisdiction to entertain the Application filed by The Gambia on the basis of Article IX of the Genocide Convention, and that the Application was admissible.
By an Order dated 22 July 2022, the Court fixed 24 April 2023 as the new time-limit for the filing of the Counter-Memorial of Myanmar. By Orders dated 6 April 2023 and 12 May 2023 respectively, the Court extended that time-limit, first to 24 May 2023 and then to 24 August 2023. The Counter-Memorial was filed within the time-limit thus fixed.
By an Order dated 16 October 2023, the Court authorized the submission of a Reply by The Gambia and a Rejoinder by Myanmar, and fixed 16 May 2024 and 16 December 2024 as the respective time-limits for the filing of those written pleadings. The Gambia duly filed its Reply.
On 15 November 2023, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (jointly) and the Maldives filed declarations of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court.
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Earlier press releases relating to this case are available on the Court’s website.
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Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
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Information Department:
Ms Monique Legerman, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department: +31 (0)70 302 2336
Ms Joanne Moore, Information Officer: +31 (0)70 302 2337
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