Practice before the International Court of Justice

• Author: Dr. Pieter H. F. Bekker
• Pages: 331-347

33

HINTRODUCTION; ORGANIZATION

Practice and procedu re before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the princi-

pal judicia l organ of the United Nations having its seat at t he Peace Palace in The

Hague (The Netherla nds), is truly u nique, owing to the ICJ’s status as the world’s

only court wit h general jurisdiction over di sputes between sovereign states and

the special d ecorum that applies in proceed ings before it.

This chapter describes i n a nutshell the spec ial features of litigation before

this august body. It will do so by discu ssing the ICJ’s organi zation (bench and

Registr y), its dual funct ion and jurisd iction, wr itten and oral proceedings, i nci-

dental proceedi ngs, the law that the ICJ applies, expenses and legal aid, publica-

tions, issues of decor um, and practical considerat ions for counsel participati ng in

ICJ proceed ings.

The ICJ was established i n 945 as the successor to the Permanent Court of

Internationa l Justice (PCIJ). The PCIJ’s Statute entered into force i n 92.2 The ICJ

Statute, constit uting the ICJ’s main organiz ational docu ment, forms an i ntegral

part of the United Nation s Charter to which it is anne xed. In contrast to the PCIJ,

. For a more detai led summary, includ ing recent examples fr om ICJ practice and refer-

ences to literat ure, see Pie H.F. B , W C D    T  

M  (997–200) 3–40 (2002) [here inafter B , M ].

2. For the most aut horitative treatise on t he PCIJ, see M O. H , T P -

 C  I  J , 920–940 (943).

CHAPTER 20

Practice before the International

Court of Justice

Dr. Pieter H . F. Bekker

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332 CHAPTER 20

which was not a forma l part of the League of Nations that c reated it, the member

states of the United Nations a re automatically parties to t he ICJ Statute.3

While they may act as representatives of states, individua ls (natural per sons)

cannot be the subject of proceedings, or st and tria l, before the ICJ. The same

applies to corporat ions. In other words, the ICJ’s jurisdiction ratione personae in

contentious cases is l imited to sovereign states.

In practice, the pa rties and thei r officia l representatives (agents and counsel)

deal with t wo entities, namely, the judges con stituti ng the ICJ bench,4 and t he

Registr y, the ICJ’s administr ative organ.

The Bench

The ICJ consists of 5 judges (officially c alled Members of the Court) from dif fer-

ent countries who are elec ted to nine-year terms by the UN Secu rity Council and

General Assembly in simultaneous but independent elections.5 One-third of the

judges are elected or reelected every three yea rs. The judges, who serve in their

individua l capacities and not as representatives of states, ty pically ha il from the

following five regions: Africa (three), Asia (three), Eastern Europe (two), Latin

America (two), and Western Europe and other states (f ive). The nationality of

each of the five per manent members of the UN Security Cou ncil (China, France,

the Russian Feder ation, the United K ingdom, and the United States) customar ily

is represented on the benc h.

The judges elect a president and vice president by secret ballot every th ree

years.6 I ndividual judges are subject to rec usal in a particu lar case.7

The ICJ bench in a given case may include up to 7 judges if both part ies to

the case have no judge of thei r nationalit y sittin g on the permanent be nch. In

such cases, the st ate or states concerned are ent itled to appoint a person of any

nationalit y to sit as a judge ad hoc for the purpose of that ca se, even if that person

shares the nationality of a judge serving permanently on t he bench. While it is

not necessary to appoi nt a judge ad hoc upon the filing of a ca se or at the time of

submission of the f irst introductory or responsive pleadi ng, such appointments

customarily are made si multaneously wit h, or shortly af ter, proceeding s are

instituted . Judges ad hoc are not considered Member s of the Court, but other-

wise take pa rt in the proceedings on term s of complete equality wit h the regular

ICJ judges.8

3. For a descript ion of the ICJ’s clientele, or jurisd iction ratione personae, see chapter III

of the ICJ Ye , published annual ly. See also B, M , supra note , at

7–8.

4. See also B , M , supra note , at 4–7.

5. See ICJ Statute, art s. 4–3.

6. See id., ar t. 2().

7. See id., a rt. 24.

8. See id., art. 3.

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