Statute of the International Court of Justice

• Registration Number: N/A
• Date of Conclusion: 24 October 1945
• Type of Document: Multilateral
• Subject Terms: International Court of Justice (ICJ)
• Participants: Lesotho
• Party Submitting the Application for Registration: ex officio
• Depositary: Secretary-General of the United Nations

STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Article

1

T

HE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE estab-

lished by the Charter of the Un ited Nations as

the principal judicial organ of the Uni ted Nations

shall be constituted and shall function in accord-

ance with the provisions of the present Statute.

CHAPTER I

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURT

Article

2

The Court sh all be composed of a body of inde-

pendent judges,

elected

regar dless of their natio n-

ality fro m amo ng persons of high mora l character,

who posse ss the qualifica tions re quir ed in th eir re-

spective countries for appointment to the highest

judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognized

competence in international law.

Article

3

1. The Court shall consist of fifteen members ,

no

two

of

whom may be

natio nals of

the

same state.

2. A person who for the purposes of member-

ship in the Court could be regarded as a national

of more than one state shall be deemed to be a

national of

the one in which he

ordi naril y exe rci ses

civil and poli tica l righ ts.

Article

4

1. The members of the Court shall be elected

by the General Assembly and by the Security

Council from a list of persons nominated by the

national gro ups

in

the P er ma ne nt C ou r t of A rbitr a-

tion, in accordance with th e foll owi ng provisions.

2. In the case of Members of the United Na-

tions not represented in the Permanent Court of

Arbitration, candidates shall be nominated by

national groups appointed for this purpose by

their governments under the same conditions as

those prescribed for members of the Permanent

Court-of Arbitration by Article 44 of the Conven-

tion of The Hague of 1907 for the pacific settle-

ment of international disputes.

3. The conditions under which a state which

is a party to the present Statute but is not a Mem-

ber of the Unite d Nation s may participate in elec t-

ing the membe rs of the Court sha ll, i n

the

absence

of a special agreement, be laid down by the Gen-

eral Assembly upon recommendation of the Se-

curity Council.

Article

5

1. At least three months before th e date of the

election, the Secretary-General of the United

Nations shall address a written request to the

members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration

belonging to the states which are parties to the

present Statute, and to the members of the na-

tional groups appointed under Article 4, para-

graph 2 , inviting them

to

undertake ,

wit hin a give n

time, by national groups, the nomination of per-

sons in

a

po sit ion to a ccept the dut ies of a member

of the Cour t.

2. No grou p

may no min at e more than

four per-

sons, not more than two of whom shall be of their

own nationality. In no case may the number of

candidates nominated by a group be more than

double the n umbe r of seats to b e filled.

Article

6

Before ma k i n g t he se n o mi n at io n s, e ach na ti on a l

group is reco mmende d to cons ult its h ighest cour t

of justice,

its

legal

fac ulti es

and sc ho ols o f

law,

and

its national academies and nation al sections of in-

ternational academies devoted to th e study of law.

Article

7

1. The Secretary-General shall prepare a list

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