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RETRACTED - A Critical Analysis of the ICJ’s Ruling in Sudan v. UAE: Genocide Convention Reservations and the Limits of Article IX

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2026

Taha POOSTINDOOZ Open the ORCID record for Taha POOSTINDOOZ [Opens in a new window]
Taha POOSTINDOOZ*
Affiliation:
Najafabad Azad University - Faculty of Law, Isfahan Province, Iran
*
Email: taha.poostindooz@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article critically examines the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling on the preliminary objections in Sudan v. United Arab Emirates, focusing on the implications of the UAE’s reservation to Article IX of the Genocide Convention. It evaluates the Court’s interpretation of the scope and effect of such reservations, contrasting it with precedents set in Bosnia v. Serbia and The Gambia v. Myanmar. Drawing on the ICJ’s jurisprudence, principles of state responsibility, and international criminal law, the article highlights significant tensions and ambiguities in the Court’s approach to admissibility, complicity, and provisional measures. The study incorporates insights from the International Criminal Court and UN Human Rights Council resolutions to contextualise the legal and factual matrix. Ultimately, it argues for a more coherent doctrinal framework to address the impact of reservations on treaty obligations and jurisdictional competence in genocide-related disputes.

Keywords

Article IXGenocide ConventionInternational Court of Justiceinternational treaty lawjurisdictionreservationsstate responsibilitySudan v. UAE

Information

Type
Notes and Comments
Information
Asian Journal of International Law , First View , pp. 1 - 9
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Asian Society for International Law.

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References

1 Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar), Order on Provisional Measures, [2020] I.C.J. Rep. 3.

2 Ibid.

3 Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), [2007] I.C.J. Rep. 43.

4 Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, International Law Commission, U.N. Doc. A/56/10 (2001).

5 UAE Reservation Text to the Genocide Convention, Depositary Notification, 78 U.N.T.S. 277.

6 Situation in Darfur, Sudan, International Criminal Court, ICC-02/05.

7 R. HIGGINS, Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994).

8 A. CASSESE, International Criminal Law, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).

9 J. CRAWFORD, State Responsibility: The General Part (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).

10 M. SHAW, International Law, 8th ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017).

11 ICJ, Sudan v. United Arab Emirates, Application Instituting Proceedings (6 February 2020), ICJ Case No. 178.

12 M. MENDELSON, “Reservations to Multilateral Treaties” (2001) 72 British Year Book of International Law 227 at 230–5.

13 Crawford, supra note 9.

14 Higgins, supra note 7 at 210–20.

15 UAE Reservation Text to the Genocide Convention, supra note 5.

16 Sudan v. United Arab Emirates (Preliminary Objections) [2024] ICJ Rep (forthcoming).

17 Cassese, supra note 8 at 95–100; A. ORAKHELASHVILI, Peremptory Norms in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) at 140.

18 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force 27 January 1980) [VCLT], arts 19 and 20; Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Advisory Opinion, [1951] I.C.J. Rep. 15.

19 Mendelson, supra note 12; D. SHELTON, “Reservations to Human Rights Treaties” in D. MOECKLI, S. SHAH, and S. SIVAKUMARAN, eds., International Human Rights Law, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) at 430–50.

20 Crawford, supra note 9 at 200–10.

21 S.D. MURPHY, “Consent and Reservations in the Law of Treaties” (2005) 99(2) American Journal of International Law 317.

22 A. PELLET, “The ILC Guide to Practice on Reservations to Treaties: A General Presentation by the Special Rapporteur” (2013) 24(4) European Journal of International Law 1061 at 1063.

23 Reservations to the Genocide Convention, supra note 18.

24 C.J. TAMS, “Article IX” in A. PAULUS and S. LINGAAS, eds., The Genocide Convention: A Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) at 230–3.

25 M.G. KOHEN, “Keeping ‘Intervention’ under Control: The ICJ’s Legal Diplomacy in the Sudan v. UAE Case” (forthcoming) Leiden Journal of International Law.

26 Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 3 at paras 193–4.

27 Ibid., at paras 174–7.

28 Shaw, supra note 10 at 666–70.

29 The Gambia v. Myanmar, supra note 1 at 3.

30 C. STAHN, The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) at 198–202.

31 Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, supra note 4, art. 49.

32 Sudan v. UAE (Preliminary Objections), supra note 16.

33 M. KOSKENNIEMI, “The Politics of International Law” (2011) 1 European Journal of International Law 57 at 65–8.

34 A. CASSESE, “Jus Cogens and Obligations Erga Omnes in International Law” (1996) 5 European Journal of International Law 264 at 273.

35 Reservations to the Genocide Convention, supra note 18 at 29–30.

36 Yonah DIAMOND, “The Invalidity of Art. IX Reservations to the Genocide Convention” Opinio Juris (12 March 2025), online: Opinio Juris https://opiniojuris.org/2025/03/12/the-invalidity-of-art-ix-reservations-to-the-genocide-convention/.

37 Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 3; Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (DRC v. Rwanda), [2006] I.C.J. Rep. 6 at paras 64–9.

38 Michael A. BECKER, “Sudan v UAE and Article IX Reservations to the Genocide Convention” Opinio Juris (14 March 2025), online: Opinio Juris https://opiniojuris.org/2025/03/14/sudan-v-uae-and-article-ix-reservations-to-the-genocide-convention/.

39 Cassese, supra note 8 at 133–40.

40 Crawford, supra note 9 at 218–25; The Gambia v. Myanmar, supra note 1 at 3.

41 Situation in Darfur, Sudan, supra note 6.

42 K. AMBOS, Treatise on International Criminal Law, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) at 580–5.

43 Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in the Case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), [2007] I.C.J. Rep. 43 at para. 39; Sudan v. UAE (Preliminary Objections), supra note 16.

44 UAE Reservation Text to the Genocide Convention, supra note 5.

45 The Gambia v. Myanmar, supra note 1.

46 Ibid.

47 International Court of Justice, “Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures in Sudan v. UAE” (5 March 2025), online: ICJ https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/197/197-20250306-wri-01-00-en.pdf; see also Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 3 at para. 172.

48 Shaw, supra note 10 at 487–9.

49 Stahn, supra note 30 at 375–80.

50 UAE Reservation Text to the Genocide Convention, supra note 5.

51 Crawford, supra note 9 at 355–60; Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 43 at para. 39.

52 Mendelson, supra note 12 at 245–8; The Gambia v. Myanmar, supra note 1.

53 Cassese, supra note 8 at 178–82; Higgins, supra note 7 at 211–215.

54 Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 3 at para. 166.

55 Ambos, supra note 42 at 324–30.

56 C. TOMUSCHAT, “Obligations Arising for States without or against their Will” (2007) 56 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 49 at 65–70.

57 P-H IMBERT, “Reservations to Human Rights Treaties: Some Recent Developments” (1981) 46 Nordic Journal of International Law 1.

58 Reservations to the Genocide Convention, supra note 18.

59 Bosnia v. Serbia, supra note 3.

60 Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia), [2015] I.C.J. Rep. 3.

61 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987).

62 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965, 660 U.N.T.S. 195 (entered into force 4 January 1969).

63 Shaw, supra note 10 at 320–5.

64 Shelton, supra note 19 at 215–20.

65 Orakhelashvili, supra note 17 at 143–50.

66 M. RAGAZZI, “The Concept of International Obligations Erga Omnes” (2011) 10 Chinese Journal of International Law 363 at 375–80.