Type: Prelims Only

Ukraine has filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for committing Genocide.

International Court of Justice

• The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
• It held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.

Its establishment

• After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively.
• The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
• The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania over concerning incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania.

Seat and role

• Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
• It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
• The other five organs are:

1. General Assembly
2. Security Council
3. Economic and Social Council
4. Trusteeship Council
5. Secretariat

• The court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world.
• The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ. English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.

Jurisdiction of ICJ

• All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
• The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
• The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
• There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
• However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.

Judges of the court

• The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
• To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
• Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
• A third of the court is elected every three years.
• The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
• The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.

India in ICJ

• Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
• Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court, has been serving at the ICJ since 2012.
• Former Chief Justice of India R S Pathak served from 1989-91, and former Chief Election Commissioner of India Nagendra Singh from 1973-88.
• Singh was also president of the court from 1985-88, and vice-president from 1976-79.
• Before him, Sir Benegal Rau, who was an advisor to the Constituent Assembly, was a member of the ICJ from 1952-53.

Indian cases at the ICJ

• India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
• They are:

1. Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
2. Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
3. Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
4. Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
5. Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016); and
6. (Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).

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Back2Basics:

BASIS	INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT	INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Relationship with the United Nations	Independent; UN Security Council may refer matters to it	Primary judicial branch of the UN.
Members	105 members	193 members (all members of the United Nations).
Derives authority from	The Rome Statute	Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
Scope of work	Criminal matters – investigating and prosecuting crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes	Civil matters- settling legal disputes between the member-states and giving advisory opinions on international legal issues
Jurisdiction	Only the member nations of the ICC, which means around 105 countries. Can try individuals.	All the member nations of the UN, which means 193 countries. Cannot try individuals and other private entities.
Composition	1 prosecutor and 18 judges, who are elected for a 9-year term each by the member-states which make up the Assembly of State Parties with all being from different nations	15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term each and are all from different nations.
Funding	Funded by state parties to the Rome Statute and voluntary contributions from the United Nations, governments, individual corporations, etc.	Funded by the UN.

 

 

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