International Court of Justice, United Nations

[Muhammad Adnan]

International Court of Justice, United Nations

INTRODUCTION

International Court of Justice, United Nations, also known as World Court, principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was created in 1945 under the UN Charter as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice under the League of Nations. The court functions in accordance with its own statute, which forms an integral part of the UN Charter. The tasks of the court are to decide legal cases between nations and to provide advisory opinions to the UN and its agencies on questions of international law. Neither private individuals nor international organizations may bring cases before the court. The court has its headquarters in The Hague, The Netherlands.
All members of the UN are automatically parties to the court’s statute. A nation that is not a UN member may become a party to the statute or use the court if it accepts conditions set by the UN and agrees to contribute to the expenses of the court.

2) ACTIVITIES

Disputes may be brought before the court in two ways. The first is by a special agreement between the parties in which they consent to submit the matter to the court. The second is by a unilateral application by one party in the dispute; this can occur, for example, if the applicant believes that its adversary is obliged by the terms of a particular treaty to accept the jurisdiction of the court in case of a dispute. Alternatively, nations that are parties to the statute may declare in advance their automatic acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction for certain or all types of legal disputes. This declaration is known as accepting compulsory jurisdiction. If the parties to a dispute have filed such declarations, and if the dispute between them falls within the bounds of the declarations, then either party may bring the case before the court. In 1985 United States president Ronald Reagan formally withdrew the long-standing U.S. declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the court. The United States remains a party to the statute, however, and continues to participate in cases submitted by special agreement or brought pursuant to a treaty to which it is a party.
The court renders judgments by applying international law as derived from treaties, widespread practices accepted as law (customs), and the general principles of law found in the major legal systems of the world. The court may also refer to past judicial decisions and the writings of experts in international law. The judgment of the court, which must contain the reasons for the decision, is final and binding, and no appeal may be made. The UN Security Council is empowered to take measures to enforce the decision of the court if the parties to the dispute fail to enforce it themselves. The Security Council has never been asked to enforce a judgment, however, because states generally comply with judgments—although not always quickly or wholeheartedly.
The court gives advisory opinions on legal questions to the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, and other UN organs and specialized agencies that have been authorized by the General Assembly to ask for such opinions or whose constitutions so permit. An example is the judgment of the court in 1962 that peacekeeping expenses in the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the Middle East constituted “expenses of the organization” to be paid by member states as apportioned by the General Assembly.

3) THE JUDGES

The court has 15 judges, each elected by an absolute majority of the Security Council and the General Assembly, voting independently of each other. The judges are elected for nine years and may be reelected; no two may be nationals of the same country. A judge may be removed from the court only by unanimous vote of the other judges. They do not represent their countries but are elected on the basis of their knowledge of international law. The composition of the court is supposed at all times to reflect the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world. In any dispute, if no judge is of the nationality of a party to the case, that country may choose a judge to sit on the case. Nine judges constitute a quorum (the minimum number necessary to decide a case), and questions before the court are decided by a majority of judges present. The court elects its own officers and appoints its registrar and other officials.

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