UN Court gives Armenia and Azerbaijan time to prepare documents on racial discrimination applications

YEREVAN, 19 November. /ARKA/. The UN Court has given Armenia and Azerbaijan one year to prepare documents on reciprocal racial discrimination applications. The deadline is l 12 November 2025, the ICJ says on X.

This is related to the counter-memorials – the documents in which the parties refute the arguments of the opposite side on the merits of the case.

Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of crimes committed against Armenians over several decades, including murder, torture and inhuman treatment.

On 16 September 2021, Armenia filed a case with ICJ against Azerbaijan for alleged violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. On 23 September of the same year, Azerbaijan filed a counterclaim against Armenia.

At a hearing on 12 November, the UN Court rejected two preliminary objections submitted by Baku against the Armenian side and granted two of Yerevan's three preliminary objections.

The point is that both sides had questioned the jurisdiction of the court, and therefore the consideration of the cases on the merits was suspended.

On 12 November, the court ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear both claims, with the exception of Azerbaijan's claims relating to environmental damage and alleged acts occurring before 15 September 1996 (the entry into force between the parties of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination).-0-