The issue of genocide and the world court

Subject: IR

Section: Int Org

Context:

On December 29, 2023, the Republic of South Africa instituted proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

About International Court of Justice

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
Establishment: It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the UN and began work in April 1946.
Precursor: The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the UN and ICJ respectively.
Role of ICJ: Its role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized UN organs and specialized agencies.
Official Languages: English and French.
ICJ Jurisdiction: All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.

What is Genocide Convention?

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) is an instrument of international law that codified for the first time the crime of genocide.
The Genocide Convention was the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on 9 December 1948.
It signified the international community’s commitment to ‘never again’ after the atrocities committed during the Second World War.
Its adoption marked a crucial step towards the development of international human rights and international criminal law as we know it today.
According to the Genocide Convention, genocide is a crime that can take place both in time of war as well as in time of peace.
The definition of the crime of genocide, as set out in the Convention, has been widely adopted at both national and international levels, including in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).