The Hague §

Courts and provisional measures

The Hague is the city of the International Court of Justice and a central legal venue for Armenia-Azerbaijan disputes after 2020. Armenia and Azerbaijan filed parallel cases under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2021, and the Court issued provisional-measures orders concerning prisoners, incitement, heritage and the Lachin Corridor.

The February 2023 order requiring Azerbaijan to ensure unimpeded movement along the Lachin Corridor became one of the most important legal documents of the blockade period. Azerbaijan did not restore normal movement, and the subsequent exodus raised the question of what legal orders can do when enforcement depends on state compliance. editorial

The Hague matters because it moves the conflict from battlefield and diplomacy into evidentiary procedure. It does not settle history quickly, but it creates a record states cannot fully control.