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The International Court of Justice
Book chapter

The International Court of Justice

Sara McLaughlin Mitchell and Andrew P Owsiak
Routledge Handbook of Judicial Behavior, pp.445-466
Routledge
2018
DOI: 10.4324/9781315691527-26

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Abstract

What is the International Court of Justice (ICJ)? How does it operate? Has it been successful? We address each of these questions in the current chapter. We begin by discussing the origin, organization, and purpose of the ICJ, as well as its effects on international law and politics generally. Then, we examine and assess the ICJ’s track record, concluding that it has been successful along numerous metrics. The ICJ, for example, hears highly salient cases (i.e., those on territorial, river, and maritime claims to sovereignty); consistently receives new cases from disputing states; decides cases within a moderate amount of time; obtains high compliance rates from litigants; and fosters dispute resolution not only through the cases it hears, but also by deterring new disputes and encouraging non-violent dispute settlement outside the courtroom. Empirical data, as well as a synthesis of scholarly research, supports each of these points. Finally, we end by offering suggestions about potential avenues for future research. This chapter discusses the origin, organization, and purpose of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as well as its effects on international law and politics generally. It assesses whether the ICJ has succeeded in facilitating interstate conflict management using a number of metrics. The chapter shows that states submit many cases to the ICJ on a variety of salient topics—most notably, those concerning sovereignty over territorial, river, and maritime space. It notes that states' tendency to use the Court has not faded over time; the number of applications to the Court remains fairly constant between its origin and the present. The chapter finds that the Court decides the majority of cases submitted to it and does so in a moderate time frame that has changed little over the Court's lifetime. It also demonstrates that the Court appears able to alter state behavior by casting a shadow across potential and actual disputes.
 International Law Optional Clause Declarations Bakassi Peninsula Court’s Compulsory Jurisdiction Court’s Assistance Maritime Delimitation World Court Maritime Claims International Courts Maritime Space ICJ’s Jurisdiction ICJ Jurisprudence Cameroon Nigeria Mixed Commission Contentious Cases ICJ Case Advisory Opinions Compulsory Jurisdiction Court’s Docket ICJ Judgment ICJ Judge Compliance Rate Interstate Disputes River Cases Maritime Cases Maritime Disputes

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