The clause that lets one State take another to the World Court over genocide

International Law International Relations Law & Courts

The clause that lets one State take another to the World Court over genocide

Background

The International Court of Justice announced on 3 November that it will deliver its judgment on Thursday 19 November at 10 in the morning in The Gambia's case against Myanmar. The Gambia instituted the proceedings on 11 November 2019, and eleven other States have since intervened. The dispute is brought under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the basis of the Court's jurisdiction is Article IX of it, the clause that allows a dispute between parties to that treaty to be put before the Court. An earlier judgment of 22 July 2022 on preliminary objections held that the Court could hear the claim and that the claim was admissible. The public sittings, including the hearings on the merits that ended in January, were held at the Peace Palace. Witness affidavits and a written statement by an expert were also filed by the parties.

Jurisdiction clause: Article IX of the Convention Application filed: 11 November 2019 Intervening States: 11 Sittings held at: Peace Palace

Why it matters for exams: Article IX of the Genocide Convention as the jurisdiction clause, the Peace Palace as the seat of the Court's sittings and the fact that only States appear in such cases are the durable points behind this case.

Kerala PSCUPSCSSCBank

6 November 2026 Source: International Court of Justice

In plain words

Preliminary objections objections to the Court hearing a case at all — A respondent State can argue that the Court has no jurisdiction or that the claim is inadmissible before the merits are reached.