ISSUE: 3/2024
- Volume 28
- Number 3
- 2024
Subscribe NEWSLETTER
Studia Europejskie –
Studies in European Affairs
ISSN: 1428-149X
e-ISSN: 2719-3780
License
Articles published in the journal are under a Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial – No Derivatives 4.0 International License
Publication co-financed by the University of Warsaw within the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” programme.
Czasopismo otrzymało dofinasowanie w ramach Programu „Inicjatywa Doskonałości – Uczelnia Badawcza”.
The Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide and Dayton Peace Agreement: In Which Direction Is It Heading?
Abstract
This study explores the legal consequences and importance of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution (hereinafter: the Resolution) regarding the Srebrenica Genocide, which was adopted in light of the atrocities that occurred in 1995. The main aim is to assess the Resolution’s ability to initiate a supervening impossibility of performance (ius cogens superveniens) concerning the Dayton Peace Agreement. Utilising a qualitative approach, the research analyses the text of the resolution, the voting process, and the pertinent legal frameworks as well as the relevant scholarship. The findings highlight that although UNGA resolutions lack binding authority, they can significantly aid in the evolution of Customary International Law (CIL). The aforementioned Resolution’s focus on accountability and genocide prevention emphasises its contribution to the development of international legal standards and its interpretative role. The investigation reveals that the Resolution contains elements that could be interpreted as binding, hinting at its intended nature. However, the binding nature of the Resolution, in terms of its components and interpretative role, cannot void nor terminate the Dayton Peace Agreement. For such an outcome to occur, the Resolution would have to establish a peremptory norm of general international law through general principles of international law or Customary International Law. In this context, the research clarifies that the Resolution possesses the legitimacy to support the formation of Customary International Law. Nevertheless, this does not suggest that the potential of Customary International Law automatically overrides the grounds of ius cogens superveniens for invalidating the Dayton Peace Agreement. Instead, the Resolution’s reliance on the binding sources of international law, which include peremptory norms along with the judicial interpretation that applies these norms, plays a vital role in this scenario. At the same time, any potential conflict between those principles and the Dayton Peace Agreement, despite being classified as peremptory principles, appears to be overly broad at this juncture.
References
Baka, A.I. (2022) The Logic of Absence in Customary International Law: An Open-System Approach in Merkouris, P., Kammerhofer, J. and Arajärvi, N. (eds.) The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law. The Rules of Interpretation of Customary International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 62–86. DOI: 10.1017/9781009025416.005.
Cheng, B. (1997) “United Nations Resolutions on Outer Space: «Instant» International Customary Law?”, Studies in International Space Law. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198257301.003.0007.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1979). United Nations Treaty Series. Vol. 1249, pp. 13–25. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx (Access 30 July 2024).
d’Aspremont, J. (2022) The Custom-Making Moment in Customary International Law in Merkouris, P., Kammerhofer, J. and Arajärvi, N. (eds.) The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law. The Rules of Interpretation of Customary International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 29–39. DOI: 10.1017/9781009025416.003.
Daugirdas, K. (2020) „International Organizations and the Creation of Customary International Law”, European Journal of International Law. Vol. 31(1), pp. 201–233. DOI: 10.1093/ejil/chaa012. DOI: 10.1093/ejil/chaa012.
Follesdal, A. (2022) The Significance of State Consent for the Legitimate Authority of Customary International Law in Merkouris, P., Kammerhofer, J. and Arajärvi, N. (eds.) The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law. The Rules of Interpretation of Customary International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 105–136. DOI: 10.1017/9781009025416.007.
Hoogers, G. (2022) The Relevance of Customary International Law in the Domestic Legal Order of a Federal State in Merkouris, P., Kammerhofer, J. and Arajärvi, N. (eds.) The Theory, Practice, and Interpretation of Customary International Law. The Rules of Interpretation of Customary International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 507–529. DOI: 10.1017/9781009025416.024.
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) United Nations Treaty Series. Vol. 660, pp. 195–205. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial (Access 30.07.2024).
Joyner, C.C. (1981) “UN General Assembly resolutions and international law: rethinking the contemporary dynamics of norm-creation”, California Western International Law Journal. Vol. 11, p. 445.
Kirgis, F. Jr (1987) “Custom on a Sliding Scale”, American Journal of International Law. Vol. 81, p. 146. DOI: 10.2307/2202144.
Kreća, M. (2023) Međunarodno javno pravo. 14. dopunjeno izd. Beograd: Pravni fakultet Univerziteta, centar za izdavaštvo.
Orakhelashvili, A. (2006) Peremptory Norms in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Resolution on the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica (document A/78/L.67/Rev.1). Available at: https://www.undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2F78%2FL.67%2FRev.1&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop&LangRequested=False (Access 30.07.2024).
Talmon, S. (2014) “The Legalizing and Legitimizing Function of UN General Assembly Resolutions”, American Journal of International Law. Vol. 108, pp. 123–128. DOI: 10.1017/S2398772300002002.
The Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstić, Case No. IT-98-33-A, Appeal Judgement (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia 2004). Available at: https://www.refworld.org/jurisprudence/caselaw/icty/2004/en/33340 (Access 30.07.2024).
United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (1981) United Nations General Assembly, A/RES/36/55. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-elimination-all-forms-intolerance-and-discrimination (Access 30.07.2024).
United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) United Nations General Assembly, A/RES/48/104. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-elimination-violence-against-women (Access 30.07.2024).
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) United Nations Security Council, S/RES/1325. Available at: https://undocs.org/S/RES/1325(2000)) (Access 30.07.2024).
William, S. (2001) „Was genocide committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina? First judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia”, Fordham International Law Journal. Vol. 25(1), pp. 23–53.
Language: English
Pages: 233-247
How to Cite:
Harvard
Dakić, D. (2024) "The Resolution on the Srebrenica Genocide and Dayton Peace Agreement: In Which Direction Is It Heading?". Studia Europejskie – Studies in European Affairs, 3/2024, pp. 233-247. DOI: 10.33067/SE.3.2024.13