Chapter Twelve. State Identity And Genocide: The Bosnian Genocide Case

On 26 February 2007, after fourteen years, the International Court of Justice delivered its decision on the merits in the Bosnian Genocide Case . The progress of the case was marked by extensive factual and evidential disputes, the most extensive written pleadings in the court's history, procedural wrangling, applications for interim measures and counter-claims. This chapter outlines the history of the case and addresses the issue of State identity. It examines the Court's interpretation of the Genocide Convention. The chapter deals specifically with the massacre at Srebrenica. It also deals respectively with the responsibility for breach of the obligations to prevent and punish genocide. The chapter briefly discusses the responsibility for breach of the Court's orders indicating provisional measures and the question of reparation. Finally, it seeks to identify the likely legacy of the Judgment. Keywords: Bosnian Genocide Case ; Genocide Convention; International Court of Justice; Srebrenica; State identity