DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

South Africa has moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), invoking the Genocide Convention, 1948, against Israel accusing it of committing genocide during its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

What is ICJ?

• World’s court- It is the principal judicial organ of United Nations it is the only principal organ of UN to be not located in New York.

• Composition-ICJ is composed of 15 judges elected to 9-year terms of office by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the Security Council.
• Of the 15 judges, it is mandated that -

Election- They are conducted triennially, and five among these 15 judges are elected every three years for a nine-year term to ensure a sense of continuity especially in pending cases.

• The President and Vice-President are elected by secret ballot to hold office for 3 years.

Jurisdiction- There are two types of jurisdiction.

• • Contentious jurisdiction - Resolving legal disputes between consenting states
  • Advisory jurisdiction - The UNGA, the Security Council and other specialized bodies of the organization can request the ICJ for an opinion on a legal question
• Role-It hears cases related to war crimes, illegal state interference, ethnic cleansing, and other issues.
• It settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions to the UN and its specialized agencies.

Legal disputes-The Court settles legal disputes between nations only and not between individuals, organizations and private enterprises in accordance with international law.

• State’s consent-The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more States, it cannot deal with a dispute of its own motion.
• Verdict- The judgment is final, binding on the parties and without an appeal, though the rulings of the ICJ are binding some countries ignored them, as ICJ has no direct means of enforcing its orders.
• Wider scope- It has rules on cases involving human rights and environmental violations.
• Increased participation of states- It has attracted more states to accept its jurisdiction by using dispute settlement clauses or special agreements.
  • For example, Romania and 30 other states have joined a declaration supporting the court’s authority.
• Successful reparations- Uganda paid 325 million dollars to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for its military intervention.
• Advisory role- The ICJ has provided legal opinions on various issues of global concern, such as nuclear weapons, the Israeli wall, and the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Why South Africa approached ICJ?

• South Africa has sought the indication of provisional measures to stop the genocide by invoking Genocide Convention, 1948 to which both countries are signatories.
• It accused Israel of causing hunger, dehydration, and starvation in Gaza by impeding sufficient humanitarian assistance and failing to provide shelter to Palestinians in Gaza, including its 1.9 million internally displaced people.
• South Africa argues that urgent relief is necessary to protect against further, severe, and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people which continue to be violated, and to prevent any aggravation or extension of the dispute.
• It wants Israel to report on the measures taken to implement the court’s order, and to refrain from acts and to immediately suspend all military operations in Gaza which might aggravate the dispute.
• Israel denied any genocidal intent and claimed its right to self-defence against Hamas which used civilians as human shields.
• It said its actions were lawful and not aimed at destroying the Palestinian people and accused South Africa for relying on statistics provided by Hamas about causalities.
• It argued that the unintended civilian casualties occurring during the pursuit of lawful military objectives do not indicate genocidal intent.

Cabinet approves creation of 3 officer-level posts for 16^th Finance Commission.

• Chairman – Arvind Panagariya
• Secretary – Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey
• 3 new posts – Created at the level of Joint Secretary i.e. 2 posts of Joint Secretary and 1 post of Economic Adviser who are required to assist the Commission in carrying out its functions.
• Functions – To suggest the principle of tax devolution between the Centre and States and revenue augmentation measures.
• To review the present arrangements for financing disaster management initiatives with reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• Reporting – It would submit its report to the President by October 31, 2025 and it would be for 5 years commencing April 1, 2026.

The erstwhile 15th Finance Commission under N.K. Singh had recommended that States be given 41% of the divisible tax pool of the Centre during 5-year period 2021-22 to 2025-26, which is at the same level as was recommended by the 14th Finance Commission.

Recently, Indian government argued for people’s right to food in Supreme Court by supporting Genetically Modified (GM) crops as against the alleged environmental damage by it.

• Right to Food – It implies the right to food at appropriate nutritional levels and the quantum of relief to those in distress must meet those levels in order to ensure that this right is actually secured and does not remain a theoretical concept.
• It is inherent to a life with dignity according to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
• Legality – Article 21 of the Constitution of India should be read with Articles 39(a) and 47 to ensure the effective realization of right to food.
  • Article 21 – Fundamental right to life and personal liberty.
  • Article 39(a) – State to direct its policies towards securing that all its citizens have the right to an adequate means of livelihood.
  • Article 47 – State to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of its people as a primary responsibility.
• Thus it is a guaranteed Fundamental Right which is enforceable under Article 32.
• Extended rights – Right to free from hunger and that starvation constitutes a gross denial and violation of this right.

SDG 2 is about creating a world free of hunger by 2030.