Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2024
3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has had any interactions with the South African government in respect of the case against Israel under the Genocide Convention to the International Court of Justice and the circumstances in which he will propose that Ireland join that case. [3228/24]
View answerAs I have made repeatedly clear in this House, the Government is taking this case very seriously.
Following the oral proceedings that took place on 11 and 12 January, the Court will deliver its order on the provisional measures in the South Africa case tomorrow, Friday 26 January.
This decision will be analysed carefully by my officials once it has been published and we will continue to consult closely with our international partners, including South Africa.
I last spoke to my South African counterpart, Foreign Minister Pandor, on 19 December. While Minister Pandor did not refer to South Africa’s intention to initiate proceedings under the Genocide Convention, she expressed her strong appreciation for our principled position in relation to the conflict in Gaza.
As with all other similar cases that have come before the Court, states normally seek permission to intervene in the case only once the applicant – in this case, South Africa – has filed its memorial. This is what occurred in the other recent cases before the Court regarding the Genocide Convention, Ukraine v Russia and The Gambia v Myanmar.
Following this, the Government will consider whether to seek the permission of the Court to intervene and, if so, on what legal basis.
As I have made clear, interventions by states are not about joining one side or another. Rather, they aim to assert a legal interpretation of the issue at hand.
Any decision we take on intervention will, therefore, be based on detailed and rigorous legal analysis. As in the Ukraine v Russia case, I expect this to take some time; our declaration of intervention in that case was made six months after the Court made its provisional measures order, and two months after Ukraine, as applicant, submitted its memorial.
