Emory University law professor Tibor Varady played a critical role in
the International Court of Justice's recent ruling on the Bosnia
genocide case. On Feb. 26, the court ruled that Serbia had failed to
prevent the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica during the Bosnian war, but was
not guilty of genocide. The 14-year-old case brought by Bosnia against
Serbia was the first time the United Nation's highest court had dealt
with a genocide charge against a country.

Born in Serbia, Varady was forced to leave for Hungary in 1993 because
of violence. He attended Harvard Law School and became a full professor
at Emory Law School in 1999. After the fall of Slobodan Miloevi as
leader in 2000, the new Serbian leaders asked Varady, who had remained
in good contact with Serbian opposition, to lead the counsel on this
case.

In the case, Bosnia accused Serbia of masterminding a genocide through
widespread "ethnic cleansing" during the 1992-95 war that left more than
200,000 people dead.

In its ruling, the ICJ found only one act of genocide, the massacre at
Srebrenica of nearly 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serb troops, but couldn't
prove strict intent by the Serbian state. The court did rule, however,
that Serbia had failed in its responsibility under the 1948 genocide
convention to try and prevent the killings.

As defense counsel for Serbia-Montenegro, Varady's first goal was to
show the court that the case was on the wrong track. After 14 years and
many political changes, there were issues of jurisdiction that
compromised the case.

"When an individual is responsible, there is a clear path for blame, but
when the responsibility falls upon the state?and the many different
ethnicities that make up that state?the right path of blame isn't as
clear," says Varady.

The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, includes 15 judges
representing different countries in the United Nations. The panel of
judges had been deliberating on the case since May 2006, after nine
weeks of hearings.

"Now that the case is over, I hope those at fault express proper regret
regarding what happened in Sbrebrenica," says Varady.

Varady teaches courses each spring semester on international commercial
arbitration and international business transactions at Emory Law School.
He spends the rest of the year in Hungary.