The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, plays an important and unique role in the peaceful settlement of international disputes. As a third-party mechanism, it is a highly technical and well-structured institution. Through its continuous and consistent jurisprudence, it provides legal certainty, stability and predictability to the interpretation and application of international law. This special course intends to introduce some general concepts that underlie international adjudication and the basic rules and principles governing the competence and jurisdiction of the Court. Notwithstanding its prominence, the Court does not have a general and unconditional competence in dispute resolution. Its jurisdiction is based on the consent of the States, both in general terms as well as in each specific case, which reflects the attributes of the State system. Jurisdiction is a substantive matter. The Court’s decision on the question of jurisdiction is no less important than on the merits.
This study examines the reservations to the acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction included in declarations made by States under Article 36(2) of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice and of the Statute of the International Court of Justice and discusses the practical application by the Court of the principle of reciprocity to such reservations in contentious cases submitted to it under Article 36(2). It has been considered that, due to acceptance conditioned by so many, diverse, and complicated reservations, the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court has been declining in significance. The recent trend of acceptance of the compulsory jurisdiction does not support such a conclusion. Since the practice of making declarations with reservations has continued, further study of the Court's jurisprudence in dealing with such reservations seems necessary. This analysis attempts to show that reservations in unilateral declarations do not contribute to the decline of the Optional Clause. In fact, reservations provide for the flexibility which many States consider essential in accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Thus, the right to include a variety of reservations in unilateral declarations may in fact contribute to the wider acceptance of compulsory jurisdiction.
The International Court of Justice (in French, the Cour internationale de justice), also commonly known as the World Court or ICJ, is the oldest, most important and most famous judicial arm of the United Nations. Established by the United Nations Charter in 1945 and based in the Peace Palace in the Hague, the primary function of the Court is to adjudicate in disputes brought before it by states, and to provide authoritative, influential advisory opinions on matters referred to it by various international organisations, agencies and the UN General Assembly. This new work, by a leading academic authority on international law who also appears as an advocate before the Court, examines the Statute of the Court, its procedures, conventions and practices, in a way that will provide invaluable assistance to all international lawyers. The book covers matters such as: the composition of the Court and elections, the office and role of ad hoc judges, the significance of the occasional use of smaller Chambers, jurisdiction, the law applied, preliminary objections, the range of contentious disputes which may be submitted to the Court, the status of advisory opinions, relationship to the Security Council, applications to intervene, the status of judgments and remedies. Referring to a wealth of primary and secondary sources, this work provides international lawyers with a readable, comprehensive and authoritative work of reference which will greatly enhance understanding and knowledge of the ICJ. The book has been translated and lightly updated from the French original, R Kolb, La Cour international de Justice (Paris, Pedone, 2013), by Alan Perry, Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Winner of the 2014 American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit for High Technical Craftsmanship and Utility to Practicing Lawyers and Scholars: 'Robert Kolb's International Court of Justice provides a magisterial, lucid study of its subject. The breadth and depth of the treatment are impressive: Kolb takes the reader from the history of the Court, to its role in international society, to the more technical questions concerning its composition, powers and procedures, to the development of its jurisprudence, and to its future. The finely grained discussion provides much more than a mere survey of the Court's constitutive instruments and decisions. It engages the Court as an institution and asks how it actually operates, and secures efficacy and authority in doing so. The book's careful and detailed coverage of the Court's legal framework and operation will benefit practitioners and scholars alike. There is no doubt that Kolb's volume immediately takes a place among the authoritative references on the Court.' ASIL Book Awards Committee This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's International Arbitration online service.
An easily accessible and comprehensive study of the International Court of Justice, this book succinctly explains all aspects of the world's most important court, including an overview of its composition and operation, jurisdiction, procedure, and the nature and impact of its judgments.
This major study of the International Court of Justice was the first comprehensive analysis of the issues confronting governments in reexamining the scope of their consent to the Court's jurisdiction. Topics include the suitability of various kinds of disputes for resolution by the Court; problems of non-appearance, non-participation, and non-performance; provisional measures; and more.
International courts and tribunals are key actors in international law, both because of their primary dispute resolution function and for their role in developing international law in a more general sense. Their growing number and complexity makes a detailed study of their practice particularly relevant. The Rules, Practice, and Jurisprudence of International Courts and Tribunals examines existing international dispute resolution institutions, including those of general jurisdiction (ICJ, PCA), specialised jurisdiction (ITLOS, ICSID, WTO), as well as human rights courts, international criminal courts and tribunals, courts of regional integration agreements, claims commissions and tribunals, and administrative tribunals of international organizations. Uniquely, it assesses both procedural rules and essential case-law, making it relevant for both academics and practitioners in international law.
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and plays a central role in both the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the development of international law. This comprehensive Commentary on the Statute of the International Court of Justice, now in its second edition, analyses in detail not only the Statute of the Court itself but also the related provisions of the United Nations Charter as well as the relevant provisions of the Court's Rules of Procedure. Five years after the first edition was published, the second edition of the Commentary embraces current events before the International Court of Justice as well as before other courts and tribunals relevant for the interpretation and application of its Statute. The Commentary provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of all legal questions and issues the Court has had to address in the past and will have to address in the future. It illuminates the central issues of procedure and substance that the Court and counsel appearing before it face in their day-to-day work. In addition to commentary covering all of the articles of the Statute of the ICJ, plus the relevant articles of the Charter of the United Nations, the book includes three scene-setting chapters: Historical Introduction, General Principles of Procedural Law, and Discontinuation and Withdrawal. The second edition of the Commentary adds two important and instructive chapters on Counter-Claims and Evidentiary Issues. The combination of expert editors and commentators, and their assessment of new developments in the important work of the ICJ, make this a landmark publication in the field of international law.
Judge Shigeru Oda, having served since 1976 in three successive nine-year terms on the International Court of Justice, has helped to shape the Court's jurisprudence for over a quarter century. His influence on the law of the sea spans an even longer period, beginning with his doctoral dissertation at Yale Law school in the 1950s and continuing with his involvement in the First, Second and Third UN Conferences on the Law of the Sea. In a tribute to Judge Oda's significant contributions to international law, leading scholars on the law of the sea, international dispute settlement and the ICJ itself have produced a Festschrift in his honour that promises to be a standard reference work on these topics for years to come. This two volume work, containing over 95 articles, begins by examining the role of the international judge and the jurisdiction of international tribunals (including reservations to jurisdiction, the Optional Clause, the Special Agreement, and the power to indicate special measures). It contains a particularly lively debate regarding the proliferation of international tribunals and whether the potential for conflicting decisions is problematic or productive. Other areas of focus include the history and current development of the law of the sea; the first in-depth examination of the establishment and first decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and the ICJ's treatment of the development, doctrines and sources of international law. Further sections are devoted to International Litigation as analysed by leading practitioners; Land and Maritime Boundaries, International Watercourses and Other Waters; and Defence, the Use of Force and the Law of Armed Conflict. The composition of the editorial team - Nisuke Ando of Kyoto, Edward McWhinney of Ottawa and Rüdiger Wolfrum of Heidelberg - reflects Judge Oda's truly international career and the extent to which his work has drawn from and contributed to diverse legal traditions.
Momentous events of recent years have shown the tremendous potential for developing and applying international law, even in the area that has always presented the greatest challenge to the rule of law—the use of force. The collaborative response by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other major powers to the Iraqi army's invasion and occupation of Kuwait showed unprecedented unity on the relevance of international law, its rules, and its enforceability through decisions of the UN Security Council. What explains this historic convergence of views? What differences remain about the legality of using armed force in the new international order that is emerging with the end of the Cold War? Law and Force in the New International Order offers a timely and comprehensive inquiry into the growing number of situations where the temptation or necessity to use military force confronts the tenets of international law. Distinguished American and Soviet legal scholars and practitioners explore the idea of the primacy of law over politics, the notion held by some that U.S. military force may be applied for the sake of democracy at a time when Moscow has rejected the Brezhnev Doctrine, the tension between collective security and collective self-defense during the Iraq-Kuwait crisis, and the prospects for the use of force being authorized by the United Nations and regional organizations. The contributors also examine the vexing legal issues raised by interventions to protect human rights, to overthrow "illegitimate" regimes, and to combat international terrorism and drug trafficking; the restraints on the use of force promised by new arms control agreements; and the future role of the World Court and other tribunals in preventing or settling disputes involving the threat or use of force.
