UN's highest court allows 32 nations to intervene in Ukraine's 'genocide case'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Friday that it has accepted requests from 32 UN members to involve in the "genocide case" initiated by Ukraine.

The ICJ "has decided on the admissibility of the declarations of intervention filed by 33 States in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," the UN's principal judicial organ said in a statement.

Along with EU members, countries like the UK, Canada, and New Zealand, are also among those whose admissibility requests have been accepted, according to the statement.

However, the court decided that the declaration of intervention submitted by the US has not been accepted "as it concerns the preliminary objections stage of the proceedings."

The court has asked states whose declarations of intervention have been accepted to submit written observations by July 5.

On Feb. 26, 2022, Ukraine filed in the Registry of the Court an application instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation concerning "a dispute . . . relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" (The "Genocide Convention").