Dear Judges and Advocates,
I am very pleased to welcome you to the International Court of Justice at BERMUN2 2025!
Fitting to our conference theme of “Fighting Inequality”, we will deliberate over the case Armenia v. Azerbaijan on the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
After both countries gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, a territorial dispute emerged over the autonomous region known as Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia and Garabagh in Azerbaijan. Even though the region lies within the former Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic’s territory, a majority of the population is Armenian, resulting in two wars in May 1994 and September 2020. Despite multiple diplomatic attempts to resolve the dispute, the situation remained unresolved, resulting in The Republic of Armenia applying to the ICJ, where it claimed that, “Azerbaijan [...] under its direction and control, is responsible for serious violations of Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the CERD”. This case reinforces the principles of equality and justice by responding to allegations of racial discrimination.
If you have any questions about the ICJ program or conference preparations, feel free to contact me and my co-chairs at bermunicj@googlemail.com.
I am currently an 11th grader at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. In my free time, I like to listen to music, ride my bike, and hang out with my friends. This will be my sixth MUN conference and my fourth conference as part of the student officer team. When I first joined the courts as a judge, I was immediately hooked and couldn't have asked for a better experience in the MUN program.
I look forward to seeing you all in February!
Christian Grewe
