The World Court, also known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is the principal judiciary of the United Nations (UN) and the only international court that hears disputes between nations. It was established in 1945 by the UN Charter and is located seat at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
The World Court has fifteen judges elected for a nine-year term by the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council. The official languages of the World Court are English and French.
The World Court has two functions:
- Contentious Cases: Only state members of the UN and other states which have become parties to the Court’s statute, or which have accepted its jurisdiction may be part of contentious cases.
- The role of the World Court is to solve the legal disputes that arise between those states. The judgment issued by the Court is final and binding on the parties. Therefore, there is no appeal.
- To solve a contentious case, the World Court applies international treaties and conventions in force, international custom, the general principles of law, previous judicial decisions, and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists.
- Advisory Proceedings: Advisory proceedings are not available to any party. The UN’s General Assembly and Security Council may request advisory opinions on any legal matter.
- Other UN organs and specialized agencies may request opinions about legal matters related to the scope of their activities.
- Advisory proceedings conclude when the World Court issues its advisory opinion at a public hearing.
- The opinions rendered by the World Court are not binding thus, the requesting party may or may not apply it. However, an advisory opinion carries the prestige of the Court which encourages the opinion to be treated like international law.
For more information, please visit ICJ’s webpage, “How the Court Works.”
[Last updated in July of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]