The International Court of Justice was

established by the Charter of the United Nations as the

principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in
the Peace Palace in The Hague, sharing the building
with the Hague Academy of International Law, a private
centre for the study of international law. The International Court of Justice acts as a
world court. The Court has a dual jurisdiction : it decides, in accordance with
international law, disputes of a legal nature that are submitted to it by States (jurisdiction
in contentious cases); and it gives advisory opinions on legal questions at the request of
the organs of the United Nations or specialized agencies authorized to make such a
request (advisory jurisdiction). Established in 1945, the Court began work in 1946 as the
successor of the Permanent Court of International Justice.

HISTORY

In 1939, the outbreak of the Second World War inevitably had serious
consequences for the Permanent Court of International Justice, which had already
known a period of diminished activity. Under the stress of the War, the United Nations’
members had to decide on the future of the Court as well as on the creation of a new
international political order. In 1942, the United States Secretary of State and the
Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom declared that an international court should be
established or re-established after the War. The Inter-American Juridical Committee
urged the extension of the Permanent Court of International Justice’s jurisdiction. In
1943, the Government of the United Kingdom took the initiative of inviting a number of
experts to London to constitute an informal Inter-Allied Committee to decide upon the
matter. This Committee, under the chairmanship of Sir William Malkin, held 19
meetings, which were attended by jurists from 11 countries. The Committee
recommended that:
1. the Statute of any new international court should be based on that of the
Permanent Court of International Justice;
2. advisory jurisdiction should be retained in the case of the new Court;
3. acceptance of the jurisdiction of the new Court should not be compulsory;

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 4. the Court should have no jurisdiction to deal with essentially political matters.

On 30 October 1943 following a conference between China, the USSR, the

United Kingdom and the United States, a joint declaration was issued 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”. This declaration led to exchanges between the
Four Powers, resulting in the publication on 9 October 1944 of proposals for the
establishment of a general international organization, to include an international court of
justice. The next step was the convening of a meeting in Washington, in April 1945, of a
committee of jurists representing 44 States. This Committee, under the chairmanship of
G. H. Hackworth (United States), was entrusted with the preparation of a draft Statute
for the future international court of justice, for submission to the San Francisco
Conference, which during the months of April to June 1945 was to draw up the United
Nations Charter. The draft Statute prepared by the Committee was based on the Statute
of the Permanent Court of International Justice and was thus not a completely fresh text.
The final decisions on the definitive form of the Statute were taken at the San Francisco
Conference, in which 50 States participated. The Conference 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, and with the Statute annexed to and forming part of the
Charter. The chief reasons that led the Conference to decide to create a new court were
the following:
-as the court was to be the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, it was felt
inappropriate for this role to be filled by the Permanent Court of International Justice,
which had up until then been linked to the League of Nations, then on the point of
dissolution;
-the creation of a new court was more consistent with the provision in the Charter that
all Member States of the United Nations would be parties to the court’s Statute;
-several States that were parties to the Statute of the Permanent Court of International
Justice were not represented at the San Francisco Conference, and, conversely, several
States represented at the Conference were not parties to the Statute;
-there was a feeling in some quarters that the Permanent Court of International Justice
formed part of an older order, in which European States had dominated the political and
legal affairs of the international community, and that the creation of a new court would
make it easier for States outside Europe to play a more influential role. This has in fact
happened as the membership of the United Nations grew from 51 in 1945 to 192 in
2006.
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 The San Francisco Conference showed some concern that all continuity with the
past should not be broken, particularly as the Statute of the Permanent Court of
International Justice had itself been drawn up on the basis of past experience, and it was
felt better not to change something that had seemed to work well. The Charter therefore
plainly stated that the Statute of the International Court of Justice was based upon that of
the Permanent Court of International Justice. At the same time, the necessary steps were
taken for a transfer of the jurisdiction of the PCIJ so far as was possible to the
International Court of Justice. The decision to create a new court necessarily involved
the dissolution of its predecessor. The Permanent Court of International Justice met for
the last time in October 1945 when it was decided to take all appropriate measures to
ensure the transfer of its archives and effects to the new International Court of Justice,
which, like its predecessor, was to have its seat in the Peace Palace. The judges of the
Permanent Court of International Justice all resigned on 31 January 1946, and the
election of the first Members of the International Court of Justice took place on
6 February 1946, at the First Session of the United Nations General Assembly and
Security Council. In April 1946, the Permanent Court of International Justice 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. The Court appointed the members of its Registry (largely from among former
officials of the PCIJ) and held an inaugural public sitting, on the 18th of that month. The
first case was submitted in May 1947. It concerned incidents in the Corfu Channel and
was brought by the United Kingdom against Albania.

HOW THE COURT WORKS

The Court may entertain two types of cases: legal disputes between States
submitted to it by them (contentious cases) and requests for advisory opinions on legal
questions referred to it by United Nations organs and specialized agencies (advisory
proceedings).
Only States (States Members of the United Nations and other States which have become
parties to the Statute of the Court or which have accepted its jurisdiction under certain
conditions) may be parties to contentious cases.
The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States concerned have accepted
its jurisdiction in one or more of the following ways:
-by entering into a special agreement to submit the dispute to the Court;
-by virtue of a jurisdictional clause, i.e., typically, when they are parties to a treaty
containing a provision whereby, in the event of a dispute of a given type or disagreement
over the interpretation or application of the treaty, one of them may refer the dispute to
the Court;

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-through the reciprocal effect of declarations made by them under the Statute whereby
each has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory in the event of a dispute
with another State having made a similar declaration. A number of these declarations,
which must be deposited with the United Nations´ Secretary-General, contain
reservations excluding certain categories of dispute.
Advisory proceedings before the Court are open solely to five organs of the United
Nations and to 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations family.
The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council may request advisory
opinions on “any legal question”. Other United Nations organs and specialized agencies
which have been authorized to seek advisory opinions can only do so with respect to
“legal questions arising within the scope of their activities”.

COMPOSITION

The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year

terms of office 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. This sometimes
makes it necessary for a number of rounds of voting to be carried out. In order to ensure
a measure of continuity, one third of the Court is elected every three years. Judges are
eligible for re-election. Should a judge die or resign during his or her term of office, a
special election is held as soon as possible to choose a judge to fill the unexpired part of
the term. Judges must be elected from among persons of high moral character, who
possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the
highest judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognized competence in international
law. The Court may not include more than one national of the same State. Moreover, the
Court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal
systems of the world.
The President and the Vice-President are elected by the Members of the Court
every three years by secret ballot. The election is held on the date on which Members of
the Court elected at a triennial election are to begin their terms of office or shortly
thereafter. An absolute majority is required and there are no conditions with regard to
nationality. The President and the Vice-President may be re-elected. On 6 February 2012
the Court elected Judge Peter Tomka (Slovakia) to be President and Judge Bernardo
Sepúlveda-Amor (Mexico) to be Vice-President.

RECENT ACTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

The Court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity. To date, the
International Court of Justice has dealt with relatively few cases. However, since the

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1980s there has been a clear increase in willingness to use the Court, especially
among developing countries. After the court ruled that the United States’ covert war
against Nicaragua was in violation of international law (Nicaragua vs. United States),
the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986. The United States
accepts the court's jurisdiction only on a case-by-case basis. Chapter XIV of the United
Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce World Court rulings.
However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members
of the Council. Presently there are twelve cases on the World Court's agenda. Generally,
the Court has been most successful resolving border delineation and the use of oceans
and waterways. While the Court has, in some instances, resolved claims by one State
espoused on behalf of its nationals, the Court has generally refrained from hearing
contentious cases that are political in nature, due in part to its lack of enforcement
mechanism and its lack of compulsory jurisdiction. The Court has generally found it did
not have jurisdiction to hear cases involving the use of force.
On 9 July 2004 the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued an advisory
opinion on “The Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory.” After comprehensive examination of its own jurisdiction and
relevant international law, the ICJ found the construction of the Wall in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT), its associated regime of movement restrictions, land
confiscation and property destruction, and the Israeli settlements, to be in breach of
international law. The advisory opinion held that Israel must cease construction of the
Wall, dismantle those parts already constructed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
and provide remedy to the affected Palestinian civilians.
As a conclusion, we may say that the International Court of Justice played and
still has an essential role in the modern society and in international cooperation.
Furthermore, as the principal judicial organ of public international law, the
International Court of Justice contributes to the understanding of the fundamental
values of the international community expressed in international humanitarian law.

Glossary

English Romanian Spanish

United Nations Charter Carta Națiunilor Unite
Permanent Court of Curtea Permanentă
International Justice Internațională de Justiție
contentious proceedings proceduri contencioase
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Carta de las Naciones
Unidas
Corte Permanente de
Justicia Internacional
procedimientos
contenciosos
advisory proceedings proceduri consultative procedimientos consultivos
Secretary General Secretar General Secretario General
General Assembly Adunarea Generală Asamblea General
Security Council Consiliul de Securitate Consejo de Seguridad
Permanent Court of Curtea Permanentă de La Corte Permanente de
Arbitration Arbitraj Arbitraje
Economic and Social Consiliul Economic şi Consejo Económico y
Council Social Social
United Nations Națiunile Unite Las Naciones Unidas
International Court of Curtea Internațională de La Corte Internacional de
Justice Justiție Justicia
jurisdiction jurisdicție jurisdicción
jurist jurist magistrado
sovereignty suveranitate soberanía
treaty tratat tratado
Consejo de Administración
Trusteeship Council Consiliul de Tutelă
Fiduciaria
Secretariat Secretariat Secretaría
Statute statut ley
judge judecător juez
International Criminal Curtea Penală
Corte Penal Internacional
Court Internațională
Dreptul
Common Law jurisprudențial/Drept Derecho jurisprudencial
Comun
Civil Law Drept Civil Derecho Civil