International Court of Justice -ICJ and its importance in today’s world

International Court of Justice -ICJ and its importance in today’s world

  Author- Debpratim Sarkar/Department of Law, Calcutta University


Introduction
The United Nations Organization (UNO) has a total of 6 main organs namely-
1. United Nations General Assembly
2. United Nations Security Council
3. United Nations Secretariat
4. United Nations Economic and Social Council
5. United Nations Trusteeship Council and
6. United Nations International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice also known as ICJ is the legal wing of the United Nations. It solves disputes between its member countries through legal means. ICJ was established in June 1945.
Ww   esent day facts
The International Court of Justice is the only principal organ of the United Nations organization which is headquartered outside New York and is located in the Hague, Netherlands. All the UN member states, that is 193 member countries are necessarily part of the International Court of Justice. Its main function is actually to look after all the legal disputes and settlements that must be made, given the complaints made by the member states. It is also responsible for legal consultations with the other principal organs and specific international organizations.

Composition
The judges of the ICJ are elected by the general assembly and security council to ensure that the election is done by trusted sources and important organs play a part in such election.
1. There are a total of 15 judges in the ICJ who are elected for a term of 9 years by the security council and general assembly.

2. The 15 judges of the ICJ are elected in a manner that is democratic and it is ensured that the demographic of the different members of the UN are taken into account along the geographic distribution-
3 judges are elected from Africa
2 judges from South America and Caribbean countries
5 judges from Western Europe and other states
3 judges from Asia,
And 2 judges from Eastern Europe

3. An absolute majority has to be obtained by a judge to be elected.

4. To prevent bias and controversy no 2 judges can be from the same country this ensures democratic and unbiased justice.

5. The countries can’t directly vote for judges, rather they have to do so by electing a council from their country who gets to vote in the ICJ.

6. It is designed in such a way that elections are held every 3 years when 1/3rd of its members(5 members) are retired and new judges are chosen.

Present day importance and significance
In the present day the ICJ makes sure disputes between countries can be solved by the provisions of international law and unbiased judgement can be given. It has two main kinds of jurisdiction that are - Contentious jurisdiction and Advisory jurisdiction. Contentious jurisdiction is between countries here both countries have to admit the power of judgement of ICJ in the case and recognize its jurisdiction over the case and let proceedings happen in the court both countries submit their memorials for the case and adjudication happens and finally judgement is given by the ICJ which is both legally binding and final i.e it cannot be appealed afterward.
The advisory jurisdiction is the court’s jurisdiction to advise the other principal organs of UN along with fifteen specialized agencies and related organisations; these however don't have any legal binding to them i.e. the organ may agree with the advice of ICJ or may not.

In the recent case of Kulbushan Jadhav (2017) Pakistan had sentenced the ex-navy personnel of India to death on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India instituted the case in the ICJ and both countries recognized the jurisdiction of ICJ in the case. India was represented by advocate Harish Salve in the ICJ. India‘s main claim was denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. In July 2019 the decision was given in favour of India. So clearly in the present day, the importance of ICJ cannot be refuted Still today countries are instituting cases in ICJ so that there is a legal solution to the problem because of the ICJ today peace and cooperation are building in the different countries of the world.

Conclusion
ICJ is indirectly responsible for the maintenance of peace which is the main motive of the UN. Countries are going for instituting cases in matters of disputes by following international law; they are not going to war and instead following the legal route to dispute resolution. Clearly, the making of ICJ and its existence for so many years has prevented many conflicts and unnecessary fighting but still, ICJ does not have much legal binding in the sense that if one country does not recognise its jurisdiction for a case it cannot solve or decide on the matter and not all countries are obligated to abide by its ruling. So, the ICJ and UN as a whole should be given more power so they can perform their duties and their rulings are respected and abided by countries. The power of the organisation of ICJ should be increased.