In 1769, by a nice coincidence, Captain James Cook made landfall in New Zealand, the first British mariner to do so, and William Blackstone published the final volume of his Commentaries on the Law of England. Blackstoněs discussion of the application of the law of Englandto newly acquired colonies is not completely coherent, but it does give a strong sense that much, if not all, of the common law did come to apply to many, if not all, of them.1 The Privy Council was reminded of this, with express reference to Blackstone, in November 2003 when it was asked to determine whether the rule in Smith v Selwyn,2 a decision of the English Court of Appeal given in 1914, was part of the law of Jamaica.3

The judgment in the Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (‘Genocide case’) was handed down on 26 February 2007.1 Broadcast live across Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and making front-page news,2 it is a landmark opinion of considerable substance that contains a whole host of interesting international legal issues. The judgment and individual opinions attached thereto contain many important points on evidence, the law on genocide and state responsibility. This comment will touch upon only some of the many issues raised. In order to do so, though, it is first necessary to recall the history of the case.

‘Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?’ It is to answer this question that the General Assembly of the United Nations (‘UNGA’) requested an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’). The request, adopted in October 20081 and initially sponsored by Serbia, was triggered by the declaration of independence of Kosovo issued on the 17 February 2008.2 Some two years later, on the 22 July 2010, the ICJ delivered its Advisory Opinion.3 By a 10–4 vote, the ICJ found that the declaration of independence of Kosovo did not violate international law.

On 22 December 2000, the Council of the European Union finally adopted Regulation 44/2001, which transforms the Brussels I Convention into a Community law instrument, pursuant to Arts. 61(c) and 67(1) of the EC Treaty. The basic framework of the Regulation remains similar to that of the Convention, although there are numerous changes on points of detail and some on matters of substance.