Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

131. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade following the International Court of Justice setting 28 October 2024 as the deadline by which South Africa must submit its memorial in the case of South Africa v Israel taken under the Genocide Convention, if it is still the intention of the Government to refrain from submitting a declaration of intervention until after that point; if so, the timeframe thereafter in which he intends to submit such a declaration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17155/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In March, I announced that Ireland will seek to intervene in the case initiated by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice. At the time, I stated that our intention is to file a Declaration of Intervention after South Africa has filed its Memorial, and I noted that this would likely take a number of months.

On 5 April, the ICJ made an Order setting time-limits for the filing of written pleadings by the parties in this case. It fixed 28 October 2024 for South Africa to file its Memorial, and 28 July 2025 for Israel to file its Counter-Memorial.

It remains our intention to seek to intervene in this case under Article 63 of the Statute of the ICJ after South Africa has filed its Memorial, which we now know will be towards the end of 2024. Article 63 allows states that are parties to a convention to advance a particular interpretation of that convention if it is in question in a given case before the Court. Waiting until South Africa has filed its Memorial will ensure that we have a good understanding of what provisions of the Genocide Convention South Africa intends to rely on, which we can then in turn address. This will ensure that our intervention is relevant, and as such more likely to be deemed admissible by the Court.