ABSTRACT
The Bosnian Genocide case clarified the normative content of Article 1 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention), according to which ‘The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.’3 The ICJ has been involved in this ‘fascinating judicial saga’4
arising from the Genocide Convention on a number of occasions. In 1951, the ICJ rendered a famous advisory opinion on Reservations to Genocide Convention stressing the importance of the humanitarian and civilising purposes of the Convention.5 Then in 1993, it also passed two orders of provisional measures6 followed by a judgment on preliminary objections in 1996.7 More recently, the ICJ passed another judgment on the application of the convention in 2015.8
Many international lawyers have commented on the Bosnian Genocide case as it presents several interesting legal aspects.9 However, for the purposes of the present article, the ICJ’s decision is most relevant when it declares and explains the content of the duty to prevent genocide as independent from the duty to punish it.
