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The Court

The International Court of Justice (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 seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six

principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York

(United States of America).

The Courts role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes

submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it

by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years

by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a

Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the International Court of Justice?

2. Who may submit cases to the Court?

3. What differentiates the International Court of Justice from the International Criminal

Court and the ad hocinternational criminal tribunals?

4. How does the International Court of Justice differ from other international courts?

5. Why are some disputes between States not considered by the Court?

6. Are decisions of the Court binding?

7. How does one attend hearings of the Court?

8. Is it possible to visit the Peace Palace, seat of the Court?

9. How does one apply for a job at the Court?

10.Does the Court offer internships?

11.Does the Court issue official certificates or other documents to individuals?

12.How to find out more about the Court.

1. What is the International Court of Justice?

The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by

the United Nations Charter, signed in 1945 at San Francisco (United States), and began

work in 1946 in the Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands).

The Court, which is composed of 15 judges, has a dual role: in accordance with

international law, settling legal disputes between States submitted to it by them and

giving advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by duly authorized United

Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The official languages of the Court are English and French.

2. Who may submit cases to the Court?

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Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases. At present, this

basically means the 192 United Nations Member States.

The Court has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, non-

governmental organizations, corporations or any other private entity. It cannot provide

them with legal counselling or help them in their dealings with the authorities of anyState whatever.

However, a State may take up the case of one of its nationals and invoke against another

State the wrongs which its national claims to have suffered at the hands of the

latter; the dispute then becomes one between States.

3. What differentiates the International Court of Justice from the International

Criminal Court and the ad hocinternational criminal tribunals?

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 court, it does not have aprosecutor able to initiate proceedings.

This task is the preserve of national courts, the ad hoccriminal tribunals established by

the United Nations (such as theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former

Yugoslavia(ICTY) and theInternational Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda(ICTR)) or in

co-operation with it (such as theSpecial Court for Sierra Leone)), and also of the

International Criminal Court,set up under the Rome Statute.

4. How does the International Court of Justice differ from other international

courts?

The International Court of Justice differs from theEuropean Court of Justice(the seat of

which is in Luxembourg), whose role is to interpret European Community legislation

uniformly and rule on its validity, as well as from theEuropean Court of Human Rights

(in Strasbourg, France) and theInter-American Court of Human Rights(in San Jos,

Costa Rica), which deal with allegations of violations of the human rights conventions

under which they were set up. As well as applications from States, those three courts

can entertain applications from individuals, which is not possible for the International

Court of Justice.

The jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice is general and thereby differs fromthat of specialist international tribunals, such as theInternational Tribunal for the Law

of the Sea(ITLOS).

Lastly, the Court is not a supreme court to which national courts can turn; it does not

act as a court of last resort for individuals. Nor is it an appeal court for any international

tribunal. It can, however, rule on the validity of arbitral awards.

5. Why are some disputes between States not considered by the Court?

The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more States. It

cannot deal with a dispute of its own motion. It is not permitted, under its Statute, toinvestigate and rule on acts of sovereign States as it chooses.

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The States concerned must also have access to the Court and have accepted its

jurisdiction, in other words they must consent to the Court"s considering the dispute in

question. This is a fundamental principle governing the settlement of international

disputes, States being sovereign and free to choose the methods of resolving their

disputes.

A State may manifest its consent in three ways:

- A special agreement: two or more States in a dispute on a specific issue may agree

to submit it jointly to the Court and conclude an agreement for this purpose;

- A clause in a treaty: over 300 treaties contain clauses (known as compromissory

clauses) by which a State party undertakes in advance to accept the jurisdiction of the

Court should a dispute arise on the interpretation or application of the treaty with

another State party;

- A unilateral declaration: the States parties to the Statute of the Court may opt tomake a unilateral declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as binding with

respect to any other State also accepting it as binding. This optional clause system, as it

is called, has led to the creation of a group of States each having given the Court

jurisdiction to settle any dispute that might arise between them in future. In principle,

any State in this group is entitled to bring one or more other States in the group before

the Court. Declarations may contain reservations limiting their duration or excluding

certain categories of dispute. They are deposited by States with the Secretary-General

of the United Nations.

6. Are decisions of the Court binding?

Judgments delivered by the Court (or by one of its Chambers) in disputes between

States are binding upon the parties concerned. Article 94 of the United Nations Charter

lays down that "each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the

decision of [the Court] in any case to which it is a party".

Judgments are final and without appeal. If either of the parties challenges their scope or

meaning, it has the option to request an interpretation. In the event of the discovery of a

fact hitherto unknown to the Court which might be a decisive factor, either party may

apply for revision of the judgment.

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 whatever means are

appropriate for them.

7. How does one attend hearings of the Court?

The hearings of the Court are public, unless it has been decided to hold a closed

hearing. For information on the appropriate procedure, please refer to the "Visits"

pages on our Internet site.

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Representatives of the media wishing to cover the hearings must be duly

accredited. For further information, please refer to the "Accreditation"page in the Press

Room.

8. Is it possible to visit the Peace Palace, seat of the Court?

TheCarnegie Foundation,which owns the Peace Palace, arranges guided tours on

weekdays. There is a charge for such visits.

However, no tours are arranged when the International Court of Justice is holding

hearings or when other events are taking place in the Peace Palace.

9. How does one apply for a job in the Registry of the Court?

For all information concerning job vacancies, please refer to the "Current vacancies"

page on our Internet site.

10. Does the Court offer internships?

Yes. Further information on this subject may be found under "Summer internship

programme"on our Internet site.

11. Does the Court issue official certificates or other documents to individuals?

The Court issues no such documents to individuals relating to the lottery, transfers of

funds or certifying transactions. The Court regularly receives requests for information

about documents bearing its logo or the crudely forged signature of certain senior

officials. Members of the public are advised that these constitute fraud.

12. How to find out more about the Court

For further information on the Court, please refer to the section "Questions and

Answers on the Court"in the Press Room or download theComplete Guide to the

Court(2004 edition).

You can also subscribe to theMailing Listin order to receive the Court's press releases

by e-m

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