Feature

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

International Criminal Court

(ICC)

UNRelationship

Official court of the U.N., commonly referred to as the

World Court.

Independent. May receive case

referrals from the UN Security
Council. Can initiate
prosecutions without UN action
or referral.

Jurisdiction

U.N. member-states (i.e. national governments)

Individuals

Types of Cases (1) Contentious between parties, (2) Advisory opinions

Criminal prosecution of
individuals

Subject Matter

Sovereignty, boundary disputes, maritime disputes, trade,

natural resources, human rights, treaty violations, treaty
interpretation, and more.

Genocide, crimes against

humanity, war crimes, crimes of
aggression

Authorizing
Legal
Mechanism

States that ratify the U.N. Charter become parties to the ICJ Rome Statute
Statute under Article 93. Non-UN member states can also
become parties to the ICJ by ratifying the ICJ Statute. Each
state must provide consent to any contentious case by
explicit agreement, declaration, or treaty clause.

Appeals

None. The ICJ decision in a contentious case is binding

upon the parties. If a State fails to comply with the
judgment, the issue may be taken to the UN Security
Council, which has the authority to review, recommend,
and decide upon enforcement.

Appeals Chamber. Article 80 of

the Rome Statute allows
retention of an acquitted
defendant pending appeal.

Precedent

No stare decisis. Prior case law is persuasive authority.

No stare decisis. Prior case law

is persuasive authority.

Notes:
Jurisdiction of the ICC
The jurisdiction of the ICC will be limited to the most serious international crimes: genocide,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

Principle of Complementarity

The court is meant to be a court of last resort. It must await referral of a crime wither by
a state party or by the Security Council. The court is not allowed to act when the local
judicial system is able and willing to prosecute. Once a state has taken the initiative to
investigate a crime, the ICC cannot intervene.

Because of the principle of complementarity, the effective functioning of the court will
depend very much on the cooperation of state parties. The crimes over which the ICC
has jurisdiction must first be criminalized domestically.

THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)

Judicial method of settling disputes
CARDINAL RULE: States cannot be compelled to submit disputes to international adjudication
unless they have consented to it either before a dispute has arisen or thereafter.
States are also free to limit their acceptance to certain types of disputes and to attach various
conditions or reservations to their acceptance.
All members of the UN are ipso facto parties to the Statute of the ICJ. Being party to the Statute,
however, does not mean acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Court. It simply means that the
state may accept the jurisdiction of the court. The Statute opens the courts door to member
states.
Only states may be parties in the court.

The Court exercises two types of jurisdiction: contentious jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction.