Skip Navigation

European Journal of International Law 2007 18(4):591-618; doi:10.1093/ejil/chm036
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wittich, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

The European Journal of International Law Vol. 18 no. 4 © EJIL 2007; all rights reserved

Permissible Derogation from Mandatory Rules? The Problem of Party Status in the Genocide Case

Stephan Wittich*

* Senior lecturer, University of Vienna

Email: stephan.wittich{at}univie.ac.at.

  Abstract

In its Merits Judgment in the Genocide case, the International Court of Justice had to deal with the procedural question whether Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), at the time of the 1996 Preliminary Objections Judgment, had access to the Court. Given the unclear status of Yugoslavia within the United Nations between 1993 and 2000, this was highly doubtful. The Court avoided a definitive answer to that question by holding that it could not reopen the 1996 judgment which enjoyed the force of res judicata. The Court's overly broad application of the res judicata principle as well as its failure to examine ex officio Yugoslavia's status as a party in proceedings before the Court are not entirely convincing in legal terms. However, given the overall procedural and political circumstances prevailing in that case, the Court in 2007 had no other option than to reaffirm its jurisdiction and to proceed to deciding the merits of the case.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.