The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the United Nations. The role of the ICJ 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.

• ICJ was established in 1945 by the United Nations charter and started working in April 1946.
• It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, situated at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
• Unlike the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (USA).
• It settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions in accordance with international law, on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
• It has 193 state parties and current President is Joan E. Donoghue.

The firsts of International Court of Justice:

• The election of first members of the International Court of Justice took place on February, 1946.
• The first elected president of International Court of Justice was José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador. He was also the last president of Permanent Court of International Justice.
• The first case of International Court of Justice was submitted in May 1947.
• The first nation to submit the case was United Kingdom against Albania concerned to the incidents of the Corfu Channel

Role of the Court

The Court has a twofold role:

1. to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes between States (contentious function); and
2. to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized UN organs and agencies (advisory function).

• Article 33 of the United Nations Charter lists the negotiation, enquiry, mediation etc. methods for the pacific settlement of disputes between States. Some of these methods involve the services of third parties.
• Historically, mediation and arbitration preceded judicial settlement. The former was known in ancient India and the Islamic world, whilst numerous examples of the latter can be found in ancient Greece, in China, among the Arabian tribes, in maritime customary law in medieval Europe, and in Papal practice.
• The modern history of international arbitration:
  • The first phase is generally recognized as dating back from the so-called Jay Treaty of 1794 between the United States of America and Great Britain.
  • The Alabama Claims arbitration in 1872 between the United Kingdom and the United States marked the start of a second, even more decisive, phase.
  • The Hague Peace Conference of 1899, convened on the initiative of the Russian Czar Nicholas II, marked the beginning of a third phase in the modern history of international arbitration.
• With respect to arbitration, the 1899 Convention provided for the creation of permanent machinery, known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration, established in 1900 and began operating in 1902.
• The Convention also created a permanent Bureau, located in The Hague, with functions corresponding to those of a court registry or secretariat, and laid down a set of rules of procedure to govern the conduct of arbitrations.
• Various plans and proposals submitted between 1911 and 1919, both by national and international bodies and by governments, for the establishment of an international judicial tribunal, which culminated in the creation of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) as an integral part of the new international system set up after the end of the First World War.
• In 1943, China, the USSR, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint declaration recognizing the necessity “of establishing at the earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States, and open to membership by all such States, large and small, for the maintenance of international peace and security”.
• Subsequently, G.H. Hackworth (United States) committee was entrusted with preparing a draft Statute for the future international court of justice in 1945.
• The San Francisco Conference while keeping committee recommendations in mind decided against compulsory jurisdiction and in favour of the creation of an entirely new court, which would be a principal organ of the United Nations, on the same footing as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat.
• The PCIJ met for the last time in October 1945 and resolved to transfer its archives and effects to the new International Court of Justice, which, like its predecessor, was to have its seat at the Peace Palace.
• In April 1946, the PCIJ was formally dissolved, and the International Court of Justice, meeting for the first time, elected as its President Judge José Gustavo Guerrero (El Salvador), the last President of the PCIJ.

Structure

• 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. These organs vote simultaneously but separately.
• In order to be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies.
• In order to ensure a measure of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three years and Judges are eligible for re-election.
• ICJ is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.
• The 15 judges of the Court are distributed in following regions:
  • Three from Africa.
  • Two from Latin America and Caribbean.
  • Three from Asia.
  • Five from Western Europe and other states.
  • Two from Eastern Europe.
• Unlike other organs of international organizations, the Court is not composed of representatives of governments. Members of the Court are independent judges whose first task, before taking up their duties, is to make a solemn declaration in open court that they will exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.
• In order to guarantee his or her independence, no Member of the Court can be dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other Members, he/she no longer fulfils the required conditions. This has in fact never happened.

Jurisdiction and Functioning

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) serves as a global tribunal with dual jurisdiction over legal disputes between States brought before it by those States (so-called contentious cases) and requests for advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by United Nations bodies and specialised agencies (advisory proceedings). Only nations that are parties to the Court’s Statute or that have agreed to its jurisdiction under specific restrictions are states that are also members of the United Nations. States do not have accredited permanent representation to the Court. Their ambassador accredited to the Netherlands or their minister of foreign affairs usually serves as their conduit for communication with the Registrar. They are represented by an agent when they are parties to a case before the Court. The agent also functions as the head of a special diplomatic mission with the authority to commit a sovereign State because international relations are at stake. The decision is final, enforceable against the parties, and not subject to review (at the most it may be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision). A Member State of the United Nations commits, by signing the Charter, to abide by the Court’s ruling in any case to which it is a party.

The Security Council has the authority to suggest or decide on the steps that should be taken to give effect to a court ruling if a State believes that the other party has failed to fulfil its duties under the terms of the verdict. The process outlined above is the customary method. Incidental proceedings, however, may alter the course of the proceedings. In addition to carrying out its functions as a full court, the ICJ may also create ad hoc chambers to focus on particular matters if the parties so request.

ICJ suffers from certain limitations, these are mainly structural, circumstantial and related to the material resources made available to the Court. It has no jurisdiction to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. As it is not a criminal court, it does not have a prosecutor able to initiate proceedings. It differs from the Courts which deal with allegations of violations of the human rights conventions under which they were set up, as well as applications from States at which courts can entertain applications from individuals, that is not possible for the International Court of Justice.

The jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice is general and thereby differs from that of specialist international tribunals, such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). The Court is not a Supreme Court to which national courts can turn; it does not act as a court of last resort for individuals. Nor is it an appeal court for any international tribunal. It can, however, rule on the validity of arbitral awards. The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more States. It cannot deal with a dispute on its own initiative. Neither is it permitted, under its Statute, to investigate and rule on acts of sovereign States as it chooses. The ICJ only has jurisdiction based on consent, not compulsory jurisdiction. It does not enjoy a full separation of powers, with permanent members of the Security Council being able to veto enforcement of cases, even those to which they consented to be bound.

Power and Function:

The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges, elected for the term of 9 years by United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. The process is assisted by a registry and its administrative organ. The official Language of ICJ are English and French.

1. ICJ settles the legal disputes submitted by States, in accordance with International Law.

2.ICJ advises on the legal questions referred to it by authorized UN organs and other specialized agencies

Advisory Opinions

The advisory procedure of the Court is open solely to international organizations. The only bodies at present authorized to request advisory opinions of the Court are five organs of the United Nations and 16 agencies of the UN family. On receiving a request, the Court decides which States and organizations might provide useful information and gives them an opportunity of presenting written or oral statements. The Court’s advisory procedure is otherwise modelled on the contentious proceedings, and the sources of applicable law are the same. In principle, the Court’s advisory opinions are consultative in character and are therefore not binding as such on the requesting bodies. Certain instruments or regulations can, however, provide in advance that the advisory opinion shall be binding.

Since 1946, the Court has given 27 Advisory Opinions, concerning, inter alia, the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, admission to United Nations membership, reparation for injuries suffered in the service of the United Nations, the territorial status of South‑West Africa (Namibia) and Western Sahara, judgments rendered by international administrative tribunals, expenses of certain United Nations operations, applicability of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement, the status of human rights rapporteurs, and the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons.

Conclusion:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is composed of 15 judges who serve 9-year terms after being elected by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council. The judges of the ICJ are assisted by the ICJ Registry, the administrative arm of the ICJ. In addition, the ICJ Statute allows a State party to a case before it which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench to appoint a person to sit as judge ad hoc in that specific case. Article 2 of the ICJ Statute dictates that the Court shall be composed of “persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are juris consults of recognized competence in international law.”

International Court of Justice plays a superior role to dissolve the dispute arising between the states and helps to maintain peace and harmony around the world. Though the seat of the court is at The Hague, Netherland, but the sessions can be held wherever the court considers to do so.

The Court applies the international Law which is specifically summarized in Article 38 of the International Court of Justice Statute. The court also applies the international custom, international convention and the principle of justice and equity.

The International Court of Justice has also the power to make its own rules and regulation for smooth working. The procedure which are to be followed by the court are set out in the Rules of Court of the International Court of Justice 1978 (as amended on 29 September 2005).