The Role And Record Of The International Court Of Justice

Since its birth with the creation of the international Red Cross in 1863, international humanitarian assistance has developed considerably since World War II. In accordance with the Red Cross principle of humanity, it aims at preventing & alleviating human suffering wherever it may be found, protecting life & health & ensuring respect for the human being. International humanitarian assistance involves a complex network of government agencies, intergovernmental & non-governmental organizations, & individual volunteers: it has been labelled a 'non-system'. While governments & intergovernmental organizations play a dominant & structured role in this field, the non-governmental organizations & their volunteers have proved to be their necessary operational partners, providing material, medical & moral relief & care wherever it may be needed, beyond borders, at the grassroots level. Following a brief review of recent humanitarian activities of intergovernmental organizations, & an analysis of current trends of voluntarism, this book focuses on the role, status & attitudes of the major humanitarian non-governmental organizations, including the Red Cross organizations, the British charities, Church-related agencies, medical volunteers (such as the 'French Doctors') & U.N. volunteers. Should humanitarian non-governmental organizations provide relief assistance with the Red Cross concern for discretion, neutrality & impartiality? Or should they bear witness & denounce publicly human rights violations, at the risk of being expelled from recipient countries & having to stop their assistance? The controversial claim of a 'right' to receive & a 'duty' to provide humanitarian assistance beyond borders is also addressed, as well as the possible need for a status to be accorded to international volunteers.

A successor to the League of Nation's Permanent Court of International Justice, the International Court of Justice was established in 1946 by the United Nations. Written during its early years, this incisive study outlines how the court functioned as an "instrument for the maintenance of international peace and security" and how it may function in the future. Though skeptical that the court would be a powerful institution, Lissitzyn believed its rulings would have a modest but notable effect on the development of international law. Long out of print, this essay was originally published in the Carnegie series United Nations Studies.

This book discusses the future role of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a world facing survival challenges. It discusses threats such as climate change, environmental degradation and pandemics, and argues that in the future the ICJ will need to carry out judicial, security and protection functions as it is the only organ of the United Nations (UN) that can discharge such functions in view of its independence and expertise. The author proposes that the ICJ can apply a hitherto unused jurisdictional provision in Article 36 of its statute that allows it to deal with "All Matters Specially Provided for in the UN Charter" and presents three examples of issues that would require the urgent attention of the ICJ: vaccine equity in a global pandemic, climate disaster, and mass movements of people across frontiers due to climate change and environmental degradation. Bertrand Ramcharan (Guyana) is a Barrister-at-Law of Lincoln’s Inn with a Doctorate in international law from the London School of Economics (LSE) and the Diploma in International Law of the Hague Academy of International Law. He was LSE International Law Scholar and has been Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He has also been Director of the Research Centre of the Hague Academy of International Law (The Right to Life), Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute, and Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He is a former Chief speech-writer of the UN Secretary-General, and has performed the functions of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. His doctoral thesis was on the approach of the International Law Commission to the codification and progressive development of international law.

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the International Court of Justice, a distinguished group of international judges, practitioners and academics has undertaken a major review of its work. The chapters discuss the main areas of substantive law with which the Court has been concerned, and the more significant aspects of its practice and procedure in dealing with cases before it. It discusses the role of the Court in the international legal order and its relationship with the political organs of the United Nations. The thirty-three chapters are presented under five headings: the Court; the sources and evidence of international law; substance of international law; procedural aspects of the Court's work; the Court and the United Nations. It has been prepared in honour of Sir Robert Jennings, judge and sometime President of the Court.

The first in a series of Companions that offer broad coverage of a range of international courts and tribunals, The Elgar Companion to the International Court of Justice is a one-stop reference for those wishing to understand this highly significant an

The International Court of Justice and the Effectiveness of International Law, by Philippe Couvreur, Registrar of the ICJ, offers an account of the history and main achievements of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the only court with universal and general jurisdiction.

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and plays a central role in both the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the development of international law. This comprehensive Commentary on the Statute of the International Court of Justice, now in its second edition, analyses in detail not only the Statute of the Court itself but also the related provisions of the United Nations Charter as well as the relevant provisions of the Court's Rules of Procedure. Five years after the first edition was published, the second edition of the Commentary embraces current events before the International Court of Justice as well as before other courts and tribunals relevant for the interpretation and application of its Statute. The Commentary provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of all legal questions and issues the Court has had to address in the past and will have to address in the future. It illuminates the central issues of procedure and substance that the Court and counsel appearing before it face in their day-to-day work. In addition to commentary covering all of the articles of the Statute of the ICJ, plus the relevant articles of the Charter of the United Nations, the book includes three scene-setting chapters: Historical Introduction, General Principles of Procedural Law, and Discontinuation and Withdrawal. The second edition of the Commentary adds two important and instructive chapters on Counter-Claims and Evidentiary Issues. The combination of expert editors and commentators, and their assessment of new developments in the important work of the ICJ, make this a landmark publication in the field of international law.