Australia and the World Past and Present

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice delivered another ruling on Israel to ensure aid deliveries in Gaza and to open more land crossings.

The ruling was made in response to a South African request.

So, what is the ICJ? How does it operate? Are its decisions legally binding? and are its rulings always implemented?

The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council for 9 year terms. Not all judges are elected at the same time.

The ICJ must represent the different legal systems of the world.

The ICJ was set up after World War II and heard its first case in 1947. It has heard 191 cases to 2023.

The permanent members of the Security Council usually have a national on serving on the ICJ but this is not always the case.

Judges can deliver joint judgements or individual opinions. The latest decision was unanimous.

If a judgement is tied, the President casts the deciding vote.

Australia currently has a judge sitting on the ICJ.

Only states may be party to a contentious cases. In recent times, South Africa had brought issues to the ICJ on behalf of the Palestinians.

Judgements cannot be appealed.

ICJ judgements are viewed as legally binding.

However, the ICJ lacks an enforcement mechanism. The ICJ can refer their ruling to the Security Council, which can then order enforcement. However, in the Security Council, enforcement can be vetoed by permanent members. And even if the Council authorises enforcement, it still needs resources from member states and time to prepare and deploy them.

The ICJ and its rulings are part of the growing environment of international law. Adverse ICJ rulings are something that states would prefer to avoid. ICJ rulings do have some impact. However, at the current time there are limitations on the ICJ to put its decisions into practice. Critics of the ICJ suggest that it is still toothless tiger.