“Ethnic Cleansing” in the Case-Law of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court: A Judicial Thorn or a Well-Needed Approach? - Its Use and Possible Evolution in Genocide Law

Details

Supervisors

Van Steenberghe, Raphael

Faculty

Faculté de droit et de criminologie

Degree label

Master de spécialisation en droit international

Abstract

Ethnic cleansing has been used a lot in common language, however its exact scope is hard to define. By addressing the case-law of the two permanent international courts (the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice), its legal significance and use is assessed. As the two courts do not have the same jurisdiction, their approach is quite identical, the ICC using however a less narrow approach than the ICJ. The biggest challenge is to qualify if acts of ethnic cleansing do amount to genocide. While the ICJ makes a strict difference, the ICC seems more encline to make the link between the two. However, in conclusion, it is argued that an enlargement of the scope of the term genocide should be necessary to prevent and address better future acts of genocide.