II. Legality Of Use Of Force (Serbia And Montenegro v Belgium) (Serbia And Montenegro v Canada) (Serbia And Montenegro v France) (Serbia And Montenegro v Germany) (Serbia And Montenegro v Italy) (Serbia And Montenegro v Netherlands) (Serbia And Montenegro v Portugal) (Serbia And Montenegro v United Kingdom): Preliminary Objections. Judgment Of 15 December 20041

Abstract

This is a surprising-and disquieting-judgment which raises serious questions about the role of the Court. The Legality of Use of Force cases began in 1999 when the Federal Republic ofYugoslavia (FRY)2 first brought an action against ten NATOStates for their use of force in Kosovo.3 In December 2004 the Court decided unanimously that it had no jurisdiction to decide the cases. However, this unanimity masked a fundamental disagreement between the judges: it is apparent from the Joint Declaration of Judges Ranjeva, Guillaume, Higgins, Kooijmans, Al-Khasawneh, Buergenthal and Elaraby that the judges were strongly divided, by eight to seven, on the reasoning which led them to agree that there was no jurisdiction.