The District Court of The Hague has ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear the civil case brought against the United Nations by an association of citizens known as the ‘Mothers of Srebrenica’ and ten individual plaintiffs.

In its decision on 10 July, the District Court exclusively dealt with the matter of whether a Dutch court is competent to hear civil actions brought against the United Nations. This ancillary claim was instigated by the State of the Netherlands after the plaintiffs initiated the landmark case against both the Dutch state and the United Nations for the alleged failure of the Netherlands’ UN battalion “Dutchbat” to prevent the murder of approximately 8,000 Bosnian Muslim civilians in the Srebrenica enclave in July 1995.

UN immunity

The Court’s decision centred around the issue of whether or not there was reason to hear the case given the general immunity enjoyed by the United Nations and its representatives under international law. Article 105 of the UN Charter stipulates that the organisation “shall enjoy in the territory of each of its Members such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the fulfilment of its purposes.”

This immunity is further developed in Article II of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and, according to the Court, is regarded in practice as an ‘absolute immunity’ under international law.

Nevertheless, in determining whether this immunity was in conflict with other rights under international law, the District Court addressed the standards set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Genocide Convention.

The Court concluded that its inquiry into the possible conflict between the absolute immunity of the UN and other standards of international law did not lead to an exception to the immunity and determined that it was therefore not competent to hear the case.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the plaintiffs have indicated that they will appeal the decision. The case could ultimately end up before the European Court of Human Rights.

Press release (in English)
Press release (in Dutch)
Judgement (English translation)