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- Primary judicial organ of the UN
- Based in the Peace Palace in The Hague,
Netherlands
Main functions:
1. Settle legal disputes submitted to it by states
2. To give advisory opinions on legal questions
- Established in 1945 by the UN Charter

- Began work in 1946 ( successor to the

Permanent Court on International Justice )
- Dealt with relatively few cases in history

- But there has been clearly an increased willingness

to use the Court since the 1980ǯs
- US withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986
( after the Court ruled that its covert war against
Nicaragua was in violation of International Law )

- US now only accepts the Courtǯs jurisdiction on a

case by case basis
- Itǯs enforcement is subject to the Veto Power of the
five permanent members of the Council

- Presently, there are 12 cases on the World Courtǯs

docket
Composition:
- Composed of 15 judges
- Elected to 9 year terms by the UN General
Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list
nominated by the national groups in the
Permanent Court of Arbitration
- Judges serve for 9 years and may be re-elected for
op to 2 further terms

- Election takes place every 3 years, with 1/3 of the

judges retiring each time, in order to ensure
continuity within the Court
- Should a judge die in office, the practice has
generally been to elect a judge of the same
nationality to complete the term
- No 2 may be nationals of the same country
- Since the 1960ǯs 4 of the 5 permanent members of
the Security Council ( France, Russia, UK and the
US ) have always had a judge on the court
- Exception was China which did not have a judge on
the Court from 1967 to 1985, because it did not put
forward a candidate
- Judge should be
- Dz Elected regardless of their
nationality among persons of high
moral character Dz
- Judges of the ICJ are not able to hold any other
posts, nor act as counsel

- A judge can be dismissed only by a unanimous vote

of other members of the Court
- Judges may deliver joint judgments or give their
own separate opinions
- Decisions and advisory opinions are by majority
and, in the event of an equal division, the
presidentǯs vote becomes decisive
- Judges may also deliver separate dissenting
opinions
Ä

Judges:
- Ä

Judges seat on contentious cases before the
court

- This system allows any party to a contentious case

to nominate a judge of their choosing
Chambers:
- Generally, the Court sits as full bench

- In the last 15 yrs., it has on occasion sat as a

Chamber. This allows the Court to form smaller
chambers, usually 3 or 5 judges to hear cases
2 Types of Chambers are Contemplated:
1. Chambers for special categories of cases
R Ä

Chambers to hear particular disputes

- Ä

Chambers are more frequently convened

Current Composition
As of June 2010, the composition of the court is as follows:
à
 à   
  

Hisashi Owada Japan President 2003 2012
Peter Tomka Slovakia Vice President 2003 2012
Xue Hanqin China Member 2010 2012
Abdul G. Koroma Sierra Leone Member 1994, 2003 2012
Awn Shawkat Al-
Khasawneh Jordan Member 2000, 2009 2018
Joan Donoghue United States Member 2010 2015
Bruno Simma Germany Member 2003 2012
Ronny Abraham France Member 2005, 2009 2018
Sir Kenneth Keith New Zealand Member 2006 2015
Bernardo Sepulveda
Amor Mexico Member 2006 2015
Mohamed Bennouna Morocco Member 2006 2015
Leonid Skotnikov Russia Member 2006 2015
Antonio Augusto
Cancado Trindade Brazil Member 2009 2018
Abdulqawi Yusuf Somalia Member 2009 2018
Sir Christopher
John Greenwood United Kingdom Member 2009 2018
Jurisdiction:
- All 192 UN members are automatically parties to
the Court Statute

- The issue of jurisdiction is considered in the 2 types

of ICJ cases: Contentious and Advisory opinions
Contentious Issues:
- In contentious cases ( Adversarial proceedings
seeking to settle a dispute ), the ICJ produces a
binding rule between states that agree to submit to
the ruling of the Court

- Only states may be parties in contentious cases

Advisory Opinion:
- Is a function of the Court, open only to specified
UN bodies and agencies
- It was intended as a means by which UN agencies
could seek the Courtǯs help in deciding complex
legal issues that might fall under their respective
mandates
- In principle, the Courtǯs advisory opinions are only
consultative in character, though they are
influential and widely respected
Advisory Opinions have often been
controversial. One such well known
advisory opinion is the Nuclear
Weapons case
Security Council:
- The duty of all UN members to comply with the
decisions of the Court involving them

- If parties do not comply, the issues may be taken

before the Security Council for enforcement action
Law Applied:
- The Court applies International Law
- It may also refer to academic writing, and previous
judicial decisions
- Common Law of Precedent or `

 does
not apply to decisions of the ICJ
- The Courtǯs decision binds only parties to that
particular controversy
Procedure:
- ICJ is vested with the power to make its own rules

- The Court procedure is set out in v


 



 



 

  
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