The Hague - The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled on Tuesday it has jurisdiction to hear a claim by Croatia that Serbia committed genocide against its population in the 1991-95 war. The ICJ said the decision was final, binding and without appeal and had been made by 10 votes to seven.
The court rejected all Serbia's claims that the ICJ was not competent to hear the case that Croatia filed in 1999 against the rump Yugoslavia, that consisted of Serbia and Montenegro and was then still run by strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
Serbia had argued that since it was technically not a member of the United Nations in 1999, it was therefore not bound by the ICJ's statute.
But the ICJ on Tuesday said it held Serbia, legal successor to the Republic of Yugoslavia - known under the name Republic of Serbia and Montenegro - as the "sole respondent in the present proceedings."
When Montenegro declared its independence in 2006, Serbia accepted continuity between the State of Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia, effectively becoming the legal successor to the Republic of Yugoslavia, the ICJ noted.
The court also rejected Serbia's claim it was not party to the United Nations convention on genocide, which Croatia invoked in its case against Serbia. As successor to the former Yugoslavia, Serbia was bound to the convention, the ICJ ruled.
The ICJ also rejected Serbian claims that it would not have jurisdiction to hear Croatia's request that Serbian war crimes suspects should be brought before the court, adding it will "examine the claims of Croatia on the merits."
Zagreb claims Belgrade fomented and supported a Serb insurgency following Croatia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Ethnic Serbs, then making up some 12 per cent of the population, had proclaimed a state of their own, which was recognized only by Belgrade, on a third of Croatia's territory.
Zagreb says 20,000 people died and 55,000 were wounded and 10 per cent of all homes in the country were damaged during the three years of war, which ended in a massive defeat of the Serbs.
Croatia now demands compensation for the damages it claims Serbia is responsible for.
Last year, the ICJ ambiguously cleared Belgrade of being responsible for a genocide of Muslims in Bosnia in a case filed by Sarajevo, but also chided Serbia for not doing enough to stop bloodshed.
The ICJ, operative since 1946, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations.
Apart from settling legal disputes submitted to by member states, the ICJ also gives advisory opinions on legal questions.
The UN recently accepted a petition by Belgrade to request an opinion from the ICJ on the legality of Kosovo's secession from Serbia.
