ICJ hearings on Myanmar Rohingya genocide to start Feb 21

The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will begin public hearings in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar) from February 21 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. 

The hearing will continue till February 28, 2022, said a press release of the ICJ.

According to the release, the hearings will be devoted to the preliminary objections raised by Myanmar. 

In view of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the hearings will be held in a hybrid format, it said.

Some Members of the Court will attend the oral proceedings in person in the Great Hall of Justice while others will participate remotely by video link, it adds. 

It further said that representatives of the Parties to the case will participate either in person or by video link. 

Guidelines for the Parties on the organization of hearings by video link can be found on the Court’s website. 

Members of the diplomatic corps, the media and the public will be able to follow the hearings through a live webcast on the Court’s website, as well as on UN Web TV, the United Nations online television channel.

The hearings will be streamed live and on demand (VOD) in English and French on the Court’s website, as well as on UN Web TV.

Still photographs of the hearings will be published on the Court’s website and Twitter feed

(@CIJ_ICJ) on the first two days of the hearings. Selected high-resolution video footage (b-roll) of the hearings will be available for TV use on the Court’s website on the same days.

All photographs and videos made available to the media by the ICJ are free of charge and free of copyright for editorial, non-commercial use.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946.

The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). 

The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.