By: Maria Chhubria, Director of Academic Programs,
International Judicial Academy
In 1945, at the end of World War II, there were only four
international dispute resolution tribunals/courts in the world. One was the
Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), created in 1899 as a result of the first
Hague Peace Conference. The second was the International Military Tribunal at
Nuremberg created to try leading Nazi war criminals. A third was a similar
tribunal in Japan to try Japanese war criminals. The fourth and last was the
Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) created as part of the League
of Nations structures after World War I. Two of these organizations, the PCA
and the PCIJ, were located in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.
Due to the creation of the United Nations by the adoption
of the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945, a new court was created, the
International Court of Justice, which became the successor to the PCIJ and
replaced it. As with the PCIJ, the new ICJ was located in the Peace Palace. The
PCIJ went out of existence.
The ICJ is an official part of the United Nations
structures created by the UN Charter. It is the judicial branch of the UN, just
as the UN General Assembly and Security Council make up the UN legislative
branch, and the Office of the Secretary-General and UN departments make up the
executive branch. The Court, which is also known as the World Court, is
composed of 15 judges, elected by the United Nations General Assembly and the
Security Council for a term of nine years. The Registry is responsible for the
administrative operations of the Court. The official languages of the Court are
English and French.
The Court has two main functions: (1) to settle, in
accordance with international law, legal controversies submitted by States
(contentious cases); and (2) to provide advisory opinions on legal questions
referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies
(advisory proceedings). The full Court hears oral arguments from the parties
in most cases. In some instances, upon request, the Court can designate a
special chamber made up of a lesser number of judges to hear and decide a case.
In addition the structure of the Court allows for the appointment of ad hoc judges. If a state party to a contentious case is not represented on the Court,
then an ad hoc judge can be selected by that state party to sit on that
case.
In exercising its contentious jurisdiction, the International
Court of Justice decides, according to international law, legal controversies referred
by states. An international legal controversy is defined as a “disagreement on
a question of law or fact, a conflict, a clash of legal views or of interests.” The
law applied in cases before the court are, according to Article 38 of the Court
Statute:
a. international
conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly
recognized by the contesting states;
b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice
accepted as law;
c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized
nations;
d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial
decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the
various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules
of law.