Why in News?

The Islamabad High Court has made some statements on implementation of the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

About ICJ:

• Established in 1945 by the United Nations charter.
• It is the principal judicial organ of the UN, situated in The Hague, Netherlands.
• It settles legal disputes between States and alsogives advisory opinions in accordance with international law, on the legal questions referred to it by authorized UN organs and specialized agencies.

Structure:

• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the Security Council.
• Election requiresthat the candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies.
• One third of the Court is elected every three years and Judges are also eligible for re-election.
• ICJ’s official languages are English and French.

Jurisdiction and Functioning:

• ICJ acts as a world court with following jurisdiction:
  • Legal disputes between States submitted to it by them (contentious cases),
  • Requests for advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by UN organs and specialized agencies (advisory proceedings).
• Who all can be party to contentious cases:
  • Only those States which are members of the UN and have become parties to the Statute of the Court.
  • UN states which have accepted ICJ’s jurisdiction under certain conditions, are parties to contentious cases.
• The judgment is final and binding on the parties to the case and without appeal (at the most the judgement may be subject to reinterpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision).