On the Applicability of the Fundamental Tenets of the “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide“ adopted by UN on December 9, 1948
Summary
Vladimir D. Vardanyan
The article is dedicated to the issues of applicability of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention to the events constituting the Armenian Genocide. The international legal development of the prohibition of the crime of genocide in the framework of the United Nations is one of the focal aspects of the paper.
Having analyzed the controversial points of view on possibility of the retroactive application of the Genocide Convention author comes to the conclusion that there is no official position on that matter. The issue of retroactive application of the Genocide Convention as an issue of legal interpretation is exclusively under the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in accordance with Article IX of the Convention. Since there is no Court jurisprudence on the issue of its retroactive application, any statement for or against its retroactivity will remain non binding and disputable.