Germany formally challenged the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding a case brought by Nicaragua accusing Berlin of providing political, financial, and military support for alleged genocide in Gaza. During the first round of preliminary hearings at the Peace Palace, the legal delegation representing Germany presented arguments urging the panel of judges to dismiss the suit on procedural grounds before it reaches the merits stage.
The primary defense advanced by Germany centers on the absence of Israel as a party to the international proceedings. Legal representatives argued that for the court to evaluate Nicaragua's claims regarding German military aid, it would first be forced to render a definitive judgment on the legality of Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip. Germany maintained that the court cannot legally make such a determination because Israel, as an indispensable third party, has neither consented to the court's jurisdiction in this specific matter nor joined the proceedings as a litigant.
Addressing the court on behalf of Berlin, Julia Monar, director-general for legal affairs at the German Foreign Ministry, emphasized that German-Israeli relations are rooted in a deep historical responsibility for the security of Israel. Monar stated that Germany's strategic backing of Israel operates alongside a firm commitment to international humanitarian law. She noted that domestic judicial bodies and executive authorities regularly evaluate requests and criminal complaints related to arms transfers, maintaining rigorous oversight and providing transparent legal rationales whenever complaints are reviewed or dismissed.
Monar also highlighted Germany's diplomatic and humanitarian contributions to Palestinian self-determination, pointing to substantial funding maintained for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Furthermore, she detailed temporary operational restrictions placed on domestic defense exports. Germany suspended export licenses for offensive weapons that could be utilized in Gaza between August and November of the previous year, resuming processing only after a broader ceasefire framework was established.
Following the lifting of those temporary export restrictions, German defense manufacturers received government approval to supply Israel with military equipment valued at approximately 800 million euros between January and June. Official records provided by the German Economy and Energy Ministry in response to parliamentary inquiries from opposition lawmakers confirmed the scale of these newly approved export licenses, which coincided with the resumption of routine trade processing.
Subsequent members of Germany's legal team expanded on procedural objections regarding the admissibility of the lawsuit. Antonios Tzanakopoulos, a professor of public international law at the University of Oxford, argued that no formal bilateral dispute existed between Nicaragua and Germany when the case was initially filed in March 2024. Tzanakopoulos asserted that because Germany received no prior notification of a legal dispute warranting escalation to the World Court, the necessary jurisdictional prerequisites were not satisfied.
Professor Christian J. Tams of King's College London further argued that even if an underlying dispute were recognized, specific allegations raised by Nicaragua fall outside the explicit statutory scope of the International Court of Justice. Tams argued that the court lacks jurisdiction over general claims concerning violations of the Geneva Conventions and broader principles of international humanitarian law within this specific filing framework.
Representing the final submission for the German delegation, Samuel Wordsworth reiterated that the core of Nicaragua's legal claim relies entirely on challenging Israel's entitlement to receive foreign military assistance. Wordsworth stressed that Germany is not asking the court to validate the legality of Israeli actions in Gaza, but rather pointing out the legal impossibility of adjudicating Berlin's secondary responsibilities in Israel's absence. Proceedings continue as Nicaragua prepares to present its oral counter-arguments before the judges later in the week.
