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In 1945 the U.N. established the International Court of Justice as a successor to the prior world court. Under its statute, the ICJ can rule on disputes between states, and its orders may ultimately be enforceable by the Security Council. When prolonged delay would cause irreparable prejudice, Article 41 of the Statute empowers the court to order provisional measures designed to preserve the parties' rights until the case is decided.
Bosnia's case is the ICJ's first under the Genocide Convention. Maritime and territorial disputes have historically dominated the court's extremely light workload. In most cases, losing parties have complied with the court's decisions, and the Security Council has never enforced a judgment. Bosnia's challenge to the U.N. arms embargo is the second case asking the ICJ to find a Security Council action illegal.
Bosnia applied under Article IX of the Genocide Convention which allows contracting parties to submit disputes to the ICJ. When the killing continued, Bosnia sought an immediate ICJ provisional order ending the arms embargo in order to obtain military assistance needed to prevent further genocide. After the 1995 Dayton peace accords separated the combatants, Bosnia sought ICJ mandated reparations for damages. (ICJ Photo from United Nations, Office of Public Information.)
