Sudan v UAE: Sound administration of justice, reputation management or deference to power?

On 5 May 2025, the International Court decided to reject Sudan’s request for indication of provisional measures in the Sudan v UAE case and to remove the case form its General List. The decision was guided by the Court’s attitude to reservations under Article IX of the Genocide Convention. The Court acknowledges that “a reservation under the Genocide Convention would not be permissible if such a reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention” (para.30). Yet, it suggests that UAE’s reservation “bears on the jurisdiction of the Court and does not affect substantive obligations relating to acts of genocide themselves under that Convention”; it is “meant to exclude a particular method of settling a dispute relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the Convention”, and is hence not “to be regarded as incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention” (para. 31). This is all the Court says on this matter, regardless of the extensive...Read full article