The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the UN’s judicial organ, established in 1945 to settle disputes and provide advisory opinions. The ICJ operates from The Hague and has 15 judges who serve for nine years. Its effectiveness is limited by the veto power of the UN Security Council, and its judgments rely on a sense of fairness and justice. The ICJ has handled only 149 cases from 1947 to 2010.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). Established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations, the ICJ plays an important role in disputes between member countries. The court has the power to both settle disputes and give advisory opinions; however, its power is somewhat limited as few member states are happy with the idea of being subject to international, rather than national, law. In some cases, the ICJ has come into direct conflict with the United Nations Security Council, which has the ability to veto court decisions.
The Netherlands is the official seat of the International Court of Justice. The only major UN operation not hosted in the United States, the ICJ operates from the famous Peace Palace in The Hague. The Court is composed of 15 judges who remain in office for nine years with two possibilities of re-election. The ICJ holds elections on a rolling basis to ensure consistency, with a third of justices waiting to be re-elected or retired every three years. No judge serving at the same time can be of the same nationality.
The function of the International Court of Justice is to provide mediation between disagreeing nations and to help resolve complex legal problems that have an international effect. Some experts suggest that the court is more effective in handling issues such as border demarcation and water rights. From 1947 to 2010, the court recorded only 149 cases on its books.
There are differing opinions on the usefulness of the International Court of Justice throughout the legal world. While technically the court’s ruling should be binding, it falls to the UN Security Council to monitor the consequences of not carrying out the court’s orders. Since the five permanent members of the Security Council each retain the power to veto court decisions, any attempt to adjudicate against these members can result in an immediate veto. The United States exercised veto power in the case of Nicaragua v. United States, when the court ordered the United States to pay reparations for illegally aiding in the overthrow of the government of Nicaragua. The ability of Security Council members to simply overturn a verdict they disagree with makes the International Court of Justice appear to critics as merely a token puppet version of a judicial entity.
International law is a constantly evolving system; every time a new case arises, it may be laws that haven’t actually been written yet. The International Court of Justice is required to respect existing treaties and sources of international law, but at the same time must often rely on a sense of fairness and justice to deliver results where laws do not yet exist. This type of judgment is known as ex aequo et bono and is the source of much controversy, as it is based on the wisdom of judges rather than actual statutes.
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