The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the “principle judicial organ of the United Nations.” It was established in 1946 when it replaced the Permanent Court of International Justice and is located in the Hague, Netherlands. The Court performs two different roles: to settle legal disputes between nations and to give advisory opinions to authorized agencies.
The Court has 15 judges, all from different nations, who serve nine year terms. The judges are elected by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, independent of each other. The elections are held every 3 years, where 1/3 of the judges are up for election each time.
The first role of the ICJ is to settle Contentious Cases between nations. Basically, this is a court case between two nations; individuals may not appear before the Court. The Court only has jurisdiction over cases in which both nations have agreed to the Court’s jurisdiction.
Cases in which the Court has jurisdiction (Article 36 of the Statute of the ICJ):
1. The interpretation of a treaty
2. Any question of international law
3. The existence of any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach of an international obligation
4. The nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of international obligation
The Court has two official languages: English and French. There is a written and an oral phase and the proceedings are conducted in a public setting. There is no opportunity for appeal and if a nation refuses to comply with the decision, the other nation may bring it to the UN Security Council. The decisions made by the Court only apply to the nations directly involved, they cannot be used a precedent for future cases.
Sources of Law:
1. International conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by contesting states;
2. International custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;
3. The general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;
4. …judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations.
In addition to settling Contentious Cases, the Court may also give Advisory Opinions. They can only be given to certain authorized bodies- 5 organs of the UN and 16 specialized agencies. The decisions are not binding and only 25 have been given to-date.
Although the Court is an important part of UN, it has many shortcomings. Only 67 of the 192 members of the UN accept the Court’s jurisdiction. The United States does not submit to compulsory jurisdiction and only accepts the rulings of the Court on a case-by-case basis.
A good summary of my research can be found at: http://www.icj-cij.org/icjwww/igeneralinformation/inotice.pdf
Possible Essay Questions:
1. What are the main problems with the International Court of Justice?
2. Do you think the fact that the United States does not submit to compulsory jurisdiction (only accepts rulings on a case-by-case basis) poses a problem for the ICJ?