A Dutch court has ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear a case against the United Nations for its alleged failure to protect Muslims from a Serb assault on the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995.

"The court declares it has no jurisdiction to hear the action against the United Nations," read a judgment by the district court in the Hague’s International Criminal Court (ICC).

The plaintiffs comprise a group called "Mothers of Srebrenica", who represent some 6,000 survivors, and 10 individual widows who lost their husbands in the assault.

They are seeking a trial for the UN and the Dutch state for the peacekeeping troops' alleged failure to protect the enclave.

But the Dutch state brought a counter-application, arguing the court had no jurisdiction to hear a case against the UN which, it argued, enjoyed immunity.