This Blog is written By Miss R. Rebecca Vasanthini Percy Student of School of excellence in law, Tamilnadu
Introduction:
We all would have often thought to ourselves as to
why do we need courts, judges, lawyers, and law in a country? The answer is so
palpable, without courts and law a country cannot attain peace, law, and order
in a country. We live in a world where a lot of crimes take place and people
cannot be controlled from committing wrong unless there is a law and order to
safeguard our country, that’s the reason we have courts. Courts provide justice
to all people irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, sex, status, etc. Starting
from the low level, we have panchayats in the villages, district courts or
magistrates in every district, high courts in all the states, and Supreme courts
in each country. These mechanisms are used to resolve disputes within a
country.
What is the solution or the mechanism used for
settling disputes between various countries? Imagine if there were no mechanisms
to control the disputes, then the whole world will be in chaos and each day a
World War will start. To address these problems the International Court of
Justice was formed to settle the disputes amicably among various countries. The
International Court of Justice is also termed as the “World Court”. It was set
up on the recommendation of various countries to the United Nations on June
1945 and it began its work from April 1946. This settlement board was recommended
by various countries after the end of the Second World War, with a hope that
there will be no future World War. 139 member countries of the UN are automatically
parties to ICJ.
The World Court is established at Hague in The Netherlands. There are totally 15 judges elected every 9 years by the United
Nations General Assembly and Security Council. One-third of the court is
elected every three years. The elections are held in New York during the
autumn season. The ICJ’s official language is English and French.
Origin
of ICJ:
The Permanent Court of Arbitration was the body
resolving various international disputes but this board was a failure due to
many reasons. Due to the inefficient functioning of PCA, various international
disputes broke out which resulted in many countries recommending for a The international court, which was discussed in various conferences during the 19th
and the 20th century. The Permanent Court of International Justice
was set up which was a successor of PCA. PCIJ issued more than 30 decisions and
settled various disputes. The issues relating to the threatening to the Engulf
Europe was left unanswered by PCIJ, which led to World War II. Due to this big
loophole, PCIJ was unfruitful and the International Court of Justice was set up in
June 1945 as a sign of hope to many countries that no future war would arise.
The chief role of ICJ is to settle the disputes
between the sovereign states. Advisory opinions are also delivered by ICJ on
the recommendation of the organs of the UN.
Importance
and criticism of ICJ:
The World Court was formed out of various
consultations and recommendations by various heads of different countries. ICJ
has its own merits and demerits. The importance of ICJ are:
1. It
is a dispute resolution mechanism, which settles the disputes in a peaceful
manner between various sovereign states.
2. It
gives advisory opinions on the recommendations of the General Assembly and
Security Council of United Nations.
3. The
decision delivered by ICJ is non-appealable.
The International Court of justice is also subjected
to various criticisms, which are as follows;
1. Unlike
the domestic law, the international law is not precise and clear and it must be
more elaborately interpreted.
2. Only
states can raise their grievances in the World court, the organizations, people
and private enterprises cannot file a case in the ICJ they can only get
advisory opinions.
3. ICJ
lacks its effective and collective jurisdiction as the other various
international thematic courts are not under the control of ICJ.
Famous
cases dealt with by ICJ:
1. Asylum
Case[i]-
A Peruvian citizen was granted asylum by the
Colombian government under a local custom. The court held that there was no
such local custom or agreement which was existent, also the party who says that
there was a custom that must prove it before the court.
2. Corfu
Channel Case[ii]-
British naval personnel was dead due to the
explosion of mines that occurred in Albanian waters. The United Kingdom claimed
that the Albanian government is purely responsible for the damages. The court
held that the international obligations are created for elementary
consideration, and a state cannot knowingly allow its territory to be used for
the contrary acts. The court gave this decision based on the principle of
freedom of maritime communication.
3. Nottebohn
Case[iii]-
Nottebohn who was a German citizen was residing in
Guatemala. After the outbreak of World War I, he was applying for Liechtenstein
citizenship. The court held that granting of citizenship vests with a
particular country, they have the full option to grant or not, but since
Nottebohn claimed citizenship of an enemy country during the wartime and so
Liechtenstein has the full authority to dismiss the citizenship application.
Conclusion:
The ICJ stands as a global survival kit for many
countries across the world. In today’s century, currently, the ICJ makes a lot
of effort in dealing and sorting out matters which was a hindrance at the time
of its inception. ICJ is considered as a boon to the world, it is also
considered as one of the best organs of the United Nations. The World Court has
tolerated all the evils which came during the time of PCIJ and it still stands
for settling disputes amicably between various sovereign states.
[ii] I.C.J. 1949 I.C.J. 4.22.
[iii] I.C.J 1955 I.C.J, 4 (1955).
Comments
Post a Comment