ICJ Delivers Decision on the Application of the Genocide Convention (February 3, 2015) [1]
On February 3, 2015, the International Court of Justice (the Court) rejected mutual claims of genocide by Serbia and Croatia in its decision [3] on the Application of the Convention [4] on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia). According to the press release [5], the Court ruled that although serious crimes were committed by each side against the other, establishing the actus reus of genocide, the crimes did not amount to genocide because they lacked the required intent. The Court dismissed both states’ claims, finding that Croatia had “failed to substantiate its allegation that genocide was committed” and Serbia had “not proved that genocide was committed during and after Operation ‘Storm’ against the Serb population of Croatia.” The judgment, which is final, concluded a sixteen-year-old case stemming from crimes committed during the civil war following the collapse of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991.