Responsibility of Serbia for genocide: Application of the Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide

Abstract

On February 26th 2007, International Court of Justice claimed Serbia responsible for failing to prevent genocide and punish perpetrators underlining its' responsibility to cooperate with International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. Although it was confirmed genocide has been committed in Srebrenica 1995, Serbia is not obliged to pay financial reparations. Judgment makes distinction between individual and three-fold state responsibility for genocide, based on Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other sources of international law. There are evident disagreements among judges on jurisdiction, interpretation rules, even on meritum of the case. Many questions still remain open especially what precedent effects will have on establishment of state's dolus specialis and how it will influence the reconciliation process in the region.Dana 26. februara 2007. godine Medjunarodni sud pravde proglasava Srbiju krivom za nesprecavanje genocida u Bosni i Hercegovini, nekaznjavanje pocinilaca, i naglasava obavezu saradnje sa Medjunarodnim krivicnim tribunalom za bivsu Jugoslaviju. Iako je utvrdjeno izvrsenje genocida u Srebrenici 1995. Srbija nije obavezana na placanje novcanih reparacija. Presuda daje tumacenje individualne odgovornosti pocinilaca i trostruke odgovornosti drzave za genocid, po osnovu Konvencije o sprecavanju i kaznjavanju zlocina genocida i drugih pravila medjunarodnog prava. Postoje evidentna neslaganja sudija oko pitanja nadleznosti, pravila tumacenja, i samog merituma spora. Presuda otvara mnoga pitanja, posebno kakve ce precedentne efekte imati na dokazivanje dolus specialis-a drzave i kako ce uticati na proces pomirenja u regionu.