Internationa l court of
Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).
The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
Composition
1. The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
2. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ.
Its official languages are English and French.
Function of the
Court
The Court may entertain two types of cases:
1. Contentious cases: legal disputes between States submitted to it by them and
2. advisory proceedings: Requests for advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by United Nations organs and specialised agencies
Contentious Jurisdiction
Only States (States Members of the United Nations and other States which have become parties to the Statute of the Court or which have accepted its jurisdiction under certain conditions) may be parties to contentious cases.
According to Article 36(1) and (2) Of the Statute of ICJ,
1. “The jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases which the parties refer to it and all matters specially provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force.”
2. The states parties to the present Statute may at any time declare that they recognize as compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other state accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiction of the Court in all legal
disputes concerning:
a. the interpretation of a treaty;
b. any question of international law;
c. the existence of any fact which, if established, would constitute a breach of an international obligation ;
d. the nature or extent of the reparation to be made for the breach of an international obligation
Contentious Jurisdiction may be divided into three part:
1. Voluntary Jurisdiction Art 36(1)
2. Compulsory Jurisdiction Art 36(1)
3. Optional Jurisdiction: Art 36(2)
The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States concerned have accepted its jurisdiction in one or more of the following ways:
I. by entering into a special agreement to submit the dispute to the Court;
II. by virtue of a jurisdictional clause, i.e., typically, when they are parties to a treaty containing a provision whereby, in the event of a dispute of a given type or disagreement over the interpretation or application of the treaty, one of them may refer the dispute to the Court;
Through the reciprocal effect of declarations made by them under the Statute, whereby each has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory in the event of a dispute with another State having made a similar declaration. A number of these declarations, which must be deposited with the United Nations Secretary-General, contain reservations excluding certain categories of dispute.
Advisory Jurisdiction
(Art: 96 of UN charter )
i. An advisory opinion is a function of the court open only to specified United Nations bodies and agencies. On receiving a request, the Court decides which States and organizations might provide useful information and gives them an opportunity to present written or oral statements.
ii. The Court's advisory opinion procedure is otherwise modelled on that for contentious cases, and the sources of applicable law are the same.
iii. In principle the Court's advisory opinions are consultative in character and as such do not generally result in judgments that aim to resolve specific controversies. Certain instruments or regulations can, however, provide in advance that the advisory opinion shall be specifically binding on particular agencies or states.
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The advisory opinions of the court are influential and widely respected interpretations of the law, but they are not authoritative, and they are inherently non-binding under the Statute of the Court. Examples of advisory opinions can be found in the section advisory opinions in the List of International Court of Justice cases article
