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International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice (ICJ) or the World Court (French Cour internationale de Justice) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations(UN). It was in the Hague Convention, the idea for the creation of an international court to arbitrate international disputes first arose. Before the International Court of Justice, it was the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) which came into existence and was established by the League of Nations. From 1922 to 1939 the PCIJ issued more than 30 decisions and delivered nearly as many advisory opinions. None of them were related to the issues that threatened to engulf Europe in a second world war in 20 years. The Peace palace in The Hague served as the home for the Permanent Court of International Justice. Now it is the home of it’s successor, The International Court of Justice.
The International Court of Justice was established in 1945 by the San Francisco Conference, which also created the UN. All members of the UN are parties to the statute of the ICJ, and non-members may also become parties. The court’s inaugural sitting was in 1946. ICJ is an autonomous body that consist of 15 judges. These judges are elected for a term of nine years by the UN General Assembly and Security Council. These organs vote and the candidate with an absolute majority of votes in both bodies shall be elected. They vote simultaneously but separately. In order to ensure continuity, one-third of the court are elected every three years. No two judges shall be of the same state. Also a judge can be re-elected. The permanent five members of the UN Security Council are always represented on the court. This means there is always a judge from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The court has two functions:-
- ICJ settles disputes between states which also known as contentious cases.
- It advices UN General Assembly, the Security Council and other UN agencies. This is also known as advisory proceedings.
In case of a contentious case, the State must give consent to their disputes being settled by the Court. The Court’s ability to settle the dispute is therefore limited to the State’s consent. The judgement in a contentious case is binding to the parties. Court cannot appoint International police force to enforce its judgements even though it is binding.
The Courts advisory proceeding function gives it the opportunity to provide authoritative guidance on a question about International Law. According to the UN Charter, states themselves cannot ask the ICJ for advice. But UN General Assembly and UN Security Council can ask for advisory opinion on all sort of issues. Other organs of the UN and the specialised agencies, with the consent of General Assembly, can ask advisory opinions to the International Court of Justice. The Court’s advisory opinion are non-binding, unlike the judgement in case of a contentious case.
The sources of law that the International Court of Justice must apply are:
- international treaties and conventions in force;
- international custom;
- the general principles of law;
- judicial decisions; and
- the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists.
