the European Court of Human Rights (in Strasbourg, France) and the Inter-

What is the International Court of Justice? American Court of Human Rights (in San José, Costa Rica), which deal with
The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was allegations of violations of the human rights conventions under which they
established by the United Nations Charter, which was signed in 1945 in San were set up. As well as applications from States, those three courts can
Francisco (United States), and began work in 1946 in the Peace Palace, The entertain applications from individuals, which is not possible for the
Hague (Netherlands). International Court of Justice.

The Court, which is composed of 15 judges, has a twofold role: first, to settle, The jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice is general and thereby
in accordance with international law, legal disputes between States differs from that of specialist international tribunals, such as the International
submitted to it by them and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
matters referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and Lastly, the Court is not a supreme court to which national courts can turn; it
specialized agencies. does not act as a court of last resort for individuals. Nor is it an appeal court
The Court’s official languages are English and French. for any international tribunal. It can, however, rule on the validity of arbitral
awards.
Who may submit cases to the Court?
Why are some disputes between States not considered by the Court?
Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases.
The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more
The Court has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, non- States. It cannot deal with a dispute on its own initiative. Neither is it
governmental organizations, corporations or any other private entity. It permitted, under its Statute, to investigate and rule on acts of sovereign
cannot provide them with legal advice or help them in their dealings with States as it chooses.
national authorities.
The States involved in the dispute must also have access to the Court and
However, a State may take up the case of one of its nationals and invoke have accepted its jurisdiction, in other words they must consent to the
against another State the wrongs which its national claims to have suffered Court’s considering the dispute in question. This is a fundamental principle
at the hands of the latter; the dispute then becomes one between States. governing the settlement of international disputes, since States are sovereign
and free to choose how to resolve their disputes.
What differentiates the International Court of Justice from the International
Criminal Court and the ad hoc international criminal tribunals? A State may manifest its consent in three ways:
The International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction to try individuals
accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. As it is not a criminal  by a special agreement: two or more States with a dispute on a
court, it does not have a prosecutor able to initiate proceedings. specific issue may agree to submit it jointly to the Court and conclude
an agreement for this purpose;
This task is the preserve of national courts, the ad hoc criminal tribunals  by a clause in a treaty: over 300 treaties contain clauses (known as
established by the United Nations (such as the International Residual jurisdictional clauses) by which a State party undertakes to accept
Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), mandated to take over residual the jurisdiction of the Court should a dispute arise with another State
functions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia party about the interpretation or application of the treaty;
(ICTY) and from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)) or in  by a unilateral declaration: the States parties to the Statute of the
co-operation with it (such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Court may opt to make a unilateral declaration recognizing the
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), and also of the International Criminal jurisdiction of the Court as binding with respect to any other State
Court, set up under the Rome Statute. also accepting it as binding. This optional clause system, as it is
called, has led to the creation of a group of States each of which has
How does the International Court of Justice differ from other international
given the Court jurisdiction to settle any dispute that might arise
courts?
between them in future. In principle, any State in this group is entitled
The International Court of Justice differs from the Court of Justice of the to bring one or more other States in the group before the Court.
European Union (based in Luxembourg), whose role is to interpret European Declarations may contain reservations limiting their duration or
Community legislation uniformly and rule on its validity, as well as from
 excluding certain categories of dispute. They are deposited by States International Criminal Court:
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
 Prosecutes individuals for committing international crimes of
Are decisions of the Court binding? genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes
o No immunity is granted, not even to Presidents in office
Judgments delivered by the Court (or by one of its Chambers) in disputes  Not part of the United Nations, but has a special relationship with
between States are binding upon the parties concerned. Article 94 of the the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
United Nations Charter provides that “[e]ach Member of the United Nations o The UNSC can refer situations to the ICC
undertakes to comply with the decision of [the Court] in any case to which it  It’s jurisdiction is limited to its member states (124 at the moment)
is a party”. o USA, Russia, China, Syria, Somalia, Israel, Sudan among others,
Judgments are final and without appeal. If there is a dispute about the have not ratified the Rome Statute or withdrew their membership
meaning or scope of a judgment, the only possibility is for one of the parties o Just last month January 2017, the African Union revived talks
to make a request to the Court for an interpretation. In the event of the about a unified withdrawal from the ICC, due to a perceived bias
discovery of a fact hitherto unknown to the Court which might be a decisive against African leaders
factor, either party may apply for revision of the judgment.  Rome Statute (it’s ‘charter’- actually it is a multilateral treaty
though) came into force in 2001
As regards advisory opinions, it is usually for the United Nations organs and
specialized agencies requesting them to give effect to them or not, by
whichever means they see fit. International Court of Justice:
How can I attend hearings of the Court?
 Settles legal disputes between nation states
The hearings of the Court are public, unless it has been decided to hold a  Primary judicial branch of the United Nations
closed hearing. For information on how to attend, please refer to  It has jurisdiction over all member states of the United Nations (so
the Visits pages on our website. Representatives of the media wishing to pretty much all countries on the world)
cover the hearings must be duly accredited. For further information, please  Established 1945
refer to the Accreditation page under “Press room.”
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE- ICJ INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT – ICC

ESTABLISHEMENT YEAR 1946 2002

Independent. Not governed by U.N. Can

Official court of U.N, commonly known as
RELATIONSHIP WITH U.N receive referrals from UNSC. Can initiate
“World Court”.
prosecution without UN action.

HEADQUARTERS Peace Palace , Hague Hague

U.N Member states. Can give advisory Individuals accused of international crimes.

JURISDICTION opinions to UN bodies. Cannot try individuals. Uses International Law, as war crimes violate

Applies International Law Geneva Convention.

Sovereignty, boundary disputes,

maritime disputes, trade, natural resources, Genocide, crimes against humanity, war
TYPES OF CASES
human rights, treaty violations, crimes, crimes of aggression.

treaty interpretation, etc.

States that ratify the U.N. Charter

become parties to the ICJ Statute. Non-UN

DERIVES AUTHORITY FROM Rome Statute
member states can also become parties to

the ICJ by ratifying the ICJ Statute.

 ICJ decision is binding. UNSC can review if Appeals Chamber, according to Rome
APPEALS
states do not comply. Statute.

contribution from state parties to the Rome

Statute; voluntary contributions from the U.N;

FUNDING U.N funded voluntary contributions from governments,

international organizations, individuals,

corporations and other entities.