International Court Of Justice (ICJ)

Context | Function | Jurisdiction | Election Procedure

Context

The International Court of Justice has directed Pakistan to review the conviction order of Kulbhusan Jadhav and, until then, put his death sentence on hold. ICJ has also asked Pakistan to allow India consular access at earliest. 

About

The International Court of justice is the principle judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in 1945 to replace The Permanent Court of International Justice. The statute of ICJ forms an Integral part of United Nations Charter.

Function

The Court's role is to settle, in accordance with International law, legal disputes submitted to it by states. To give act as an advisory board opinions on legal questions/issues referred to it by authorized International Organisations. United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings.

Composition

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. These two organs vote simultaneously but separately.

The 15 Judges of the Court are distributed as per the regions :

Africa	Latin America and Caribbean	Asia	Western Europe and Other states	Eastern Europe
3	2	3	5	2

Election Procedure

• Elections are conducted triennially, and five among these 15 judges are elected every three years for a nine years term.
• A candidate needs to get an absolute majority in both bodies chambers i.e. the UNGA and UNSC, to get elected.
• Judges are eligible to stand for re-election.

Jurisdiction

ICJ acts as a World Court and is the principal legal organ body of the UN. The court's jurisdiction is two fold:

Contentious Cases

Advisory Opinions

ICJ, in accordance with International Law, settles the legal disputes. Only states may apply to and appear before ICJ. International Organizations, Other authorities and private individuals are not entitled to institute proceedings before the court. The Court can only deal with a dispute when the states concerned have recognized its jurisdiction. The judgement is Final, binding on the parties to a case and without an appeal.

Advisory Procedure is available to five UN organs, fifteen Specialized Agencies, and one related Org. Despite having no-binding force, the Court's advisory opinions nevertheless, carry great legal weight and moral authority and thus help in the development and clarification of International Laws.

Current President : Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) 

Headquarter : The Hague, Netherlands