http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=05&dd=27&nav_id=50579
Croatian genocide case continues
27 May 2008 | 13:32 | Source: B92
BELGRADE -- Croatia’s lawsuit against Serbia for genocide is continuing
at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Serbia’s legal team argues that the suit does not come within the ICJ’s
jurisdiction, because at the time Croatia instituted proceedings against
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ) in 1999, Serbia, the SRJ’s
legal successor, was not a member of the United Nations, nor had it
signed the Convention on Genocide on which the court’s jurisdiction is
based.
Vojin Dimitrijević, a professor of international law, told B92 that the
question of jurisdiction was one of the most important issues in
jurisprudence.
"To institute such proceedings against Serbia alone means to accept, in
an odd way, the belief of Slobodan Milošević and his wife that Serbia
was the only true successor to the former Yugoslavia”, Dimitrijević said.
B92: And if they had filed proceedings against the SFRJ?...
Dimitrijević: Well, that country does not exist anymore. However, there
are lot of uncertainties in this case. Before then, you cannot
accurately determine the status of Yugoslavia during the late Nineties.
Meanwhile, the ICJ has rejected Croatia’s motion to allow it access to
stenographic transcripts from Serbia’s state and military archives that
could prove the involvement of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ,
later Serbia and Montenegro, and now Serbia) in the 1991-1995 conflict.
Judge Rosalyn Higgins (presiding) made the ruling, saying that Croatia’s
motion had arrived “very late” and was irrelevant at this stage of the
proceedings.
Croatia’s legal representative Ivan Šimonović said that the main
arguments of the Croatian team were classified stenographs from meetings
of the SRJ state and military leadership.
Moreover, the Croatian team believes that its chances of winning the
case would improve if the ICJ declared itself competent for the case.
Šimonović explained how the case would proceed in the context of the two
contradictory verdicts delivered by the IJC in cases involving Serbia.
"The first was in the Bosnian case, and the second was in the case of
the SRJ vs. NATO. So, no one can know in advance what their decision in
this case might be. The task of Croatia’s legal team is to try and
increase the chances of the court declaring itself competent to handle
the case, through the quality of our arguments”, the lawyer explained.
If the court does decide it is competent to try the case, he expects
Serbia to respond by launching a counter claim.
"After that we would respond to their suit. There might be further
hearings, and only once the written debate was over, could an oral
hearing be scheduled”, said Šimonović.
Croatia’s suit is based on the act of genocide, not aggression, so it
contains only evidence that can be tied to the former. This evidence is
split into two chapters, one of which refers exclusively to eastern
Slavonia, and the other to the rest of Croatia.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
