The International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, said that the State of Palestine submitted a registry request to join the case of genocide in the Gaza Strip, which was filed by South Africa against Israel.
Under Security Council Resolution No. 9 (1946), Palestine submitted to the registry to settle all disputes that may arise or have already arisen and which are covered by Article Ninth Genocide Convention, which the State of Palestine acceded to on 2 April 2014.
If granted by the court, the request could allow the Palestinian authorities to also add an ad hoc judge of their choosing to the ICJ panel which currently has 16 judges, 15 of the court’s regular judges and one Israeli ad hoc judge.
The court noted that Palestine cited Articles 62 and 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice in its request to intervene.
Article 62 of the Court’s Statute stipulates that “if a state deems that it has an interest of a legal nature that is affected by the ruling in the case, it may submit to the Court a request to intervene.”
Meanwhile, Article 63 of the Court’s Statute stipulates that “every state notified in the above manner has the right to intervene in the case, and if it uses this right, the interpretation required by the ruling is binding on it as well.”
In addition to Palestine, Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya and Mexico have previously joined the cause.
