The United States and the Kingdom of Sweden Thursday filed declarations of intervention in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case of Ukraine v. Russian Federation. Human rights experts in Ukraine and across the world have accused Russia of genocide during its invasion of Ukraine.

Under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, states may intervene in the proceedings if the outcome will bind them. Furthermore, Article 62 of the ICJ Statute stipulates that a state may request to intervene in a contentious case if it “consider[s] that it has an interest of a legal nature which may be affected by the decision in the case.”

The USA emphasized that “all States Parties have a significant interest in ensuring the correct interpretation, application, or fulfilment of the Genocide Convention” and added that its “views on the questions at issue in this case are further informed by the United States’ long history of supporting efforts to prevent and punish genocide.

Sweden agreed that “the prohibition of genocide is a jus cogens norm in international law, and the rights and obligations enshrined in the Convention are owed to the international community as a whole”

So far, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Lithuania and Lativa have filed interventions in the case.