As such, it was not party to the Genocide Convention when the then proceedings were instituted, neither was it party to the Statute of the Court. Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Bosnia") argues that res judicata applies, as the issues raised by Serbia has already been resolved in the 1996 Judgment of the same set of proceedings that dealt with preliminary objections.
Because Bosnia wasn't party to either the Genocide Convention or the Court's Statute when these legal proceedings began, it argues that a previous ruling (from 1996) on similar issues should prevent further action by Serbia.