International Court Of Justice - ICJ

About ICJ

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN.
• Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the UN Charter.
• It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, situated at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
• It has 193 state parties and current President is Ronny Abraham.

Functions of ICJ

It has two primary functions:

• To settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and
• To act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.

Who nominates the candidates?

• Every state government, party to the Charter, designates a group who propose candidates for the office of ICJ judges.
• This group includes four members/jurists of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (machinery which enables arbitral tribunals to be set up as desired and facilitates their work) also picked by the State.
• Countries not part of the statute follow the same procedure where a group nominates the candidates.
• Each group is limited to nominate four candidates, two of whom could be of their nationality. Within a fixed duration set by the Secretary-General, the names of the candidates have to be sent to him/her.

What are the qualifications of ICJ judges?

• A judge should have a high moral character.
• A judge should fit to the qualifications of appointment of highest judicial officers as prescribed by their respective states or.
• A judge should be a juriconsult of recognized competence in international law.
• The 15 judges of the Court are distributed as per the regions:

1. Three from Africa.
2. Two from Latin America and the Caribbean.
3. Three from Asia.
4. Five from Western Europe and other states.
5. Two from Eastern Europe.

Features of ICJ

• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
• These organs vote simultaneously but separately.
• In order to be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes in both bodies.
• In order to ensure a measure of continuity, one-third of the Court is elected every three years and Judges are eligible for re-election.
• ICJ is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ.
• Its official languages are English and French.
• Unlike other organs of international organizations, the ICJ is not composed of representatives of governments. Members of the Court are independent judges whose first task, before taking up their duties, is to make a solemn declaration in open court that they will exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.
• In order to guarantee his or her independence, no Member of the Court can be dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other Members, he/she no longer fulfils the required conditions. This has in fact never happened.
• Judge Dalveer Bhandar is the member of the ICJ since 27 April 2012.

Functioning of ICJ

• ICJ acts as a world court with two primary objectives given above.
• Only States which are members of the United Nations and which have become parties to the Statute of the Court or which have accepted its jurisdiction under certain conditions are parties to contentious cases.
• States have no permanent representatives accredited to the Court. They normally communicate with the Registrar through their Minister for Foreign Affairs or their ambassador accredited to the Netherlands.
• The judgment is final, binding on the parties to a case and without appeal (at the most it may be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision).
• By signing the Charter, a Member State of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the Court in any case to which it is a party.
• ICJ discharges its duties as a full court but, at the request of the parties, it may also establish ad hoc chambers to examine specific cases.
• Advisory proceedings before the Court are only open to five organs of the United Nations and 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations family or affiliated organizations.
• Opinions provided by the court in advisory proceedings are essentially advisory and not binding.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

About UNSC

• United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six main organs of the United Nations established by the UN Charter.
• Article 23 of the UN Charter concerns the composition of the UNSC.
• The other 5 organs of the UN are—the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.
• The UNSC has been given primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and may meet whenever peace is threatened.
• While other organs of the UN make recommendations to member states, only the Security Council has the power to make decisions that member states are then obligated to implement under the Charter.
• The Headquarters of the UNSC is in New York.

Members of UNSC

• UNSC has 15 members (5 are permanent and 10 non-permanent). Non-permanent members are elected for 2-year terms by the UNGA.
• Permanent 5 or P5 members: UNSC has 5 permanent members namely France, the UK, China, Russia and USA.
• 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis
  • 5 for African and Asian States.
  • 1 for the Eastern Europe States
  • 2 for Latin American and the Caribbean States and
  • 2 for Western Europe and other States.
• Each year 193 member of UNGA elects 5 non-permanent members for a 2-year term at UNSC, with 5 replaced each year. A retiring member is not eligible for re-election.
• The council's presidency is a capacity that rotates every month among its 15 members.
• The Asia-Pacific Group gets to nominate one of its members for the 2020 elections for a non-permanent seat of the UNSC. India won the unanimous support of all countries in 55 member Asia Pacific Group at UN for its bid for a non-permanent seat at UNSC for a 2-year term in 2021-22.

Voting and Discussions at UNSC:

• Each member of the Security Council has one vote. Decisions of the Security Council on matters are made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members.
• A "No" vote from one of the five permanent members blocks the passage of the resolution.
• Any member of the UN who is not a member of the Security Council may participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council whenever the latter considers that the interests of that member are especially affected.

India as a UNSC Presidency

• Recently, India assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the month of August 2021.
• This will be the country’s first presidency during its 2021-22 tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
• India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC in January 2021.
• This is India's eighth term on the UNSC.
• India is going to organise key events in three major areas of maritime security, peacekeeping and counter-terrorism.
• The Security Council will also have on its agenda several important meetings including Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and the Middle East.
• The Security Council will also be adopting important resolutions on Somalia, Mali, & United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
• Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi will be the first Indian PM to preside over a meeting of the UNSC.
• The last time an Indian PM was engaged in this effort was the then PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 when he attended a UNSC meeting.

China opens first road-rail transport link to Indian Ocean

It is highly recommended by us to watch this lecture by Ankit Sir on OBOR of China and India’s strategy to Counter China and then visit this lecture. This topic is just an extension of OBOR and India-China relations.

• The first shipments on a newly-launched railway line from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in western China, that provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean, were delivered last week, state media reported on Tuesday.
• A “test cargo” through what is being called the China-Myanmar New Passage arrived at the Chengdu rail port in Sichuan province on August 27, the official China News Service reported.
• The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link. Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province. The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.
• “This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China,” the China News Service said, adding that "the one-way journey saves 20 to 22 days”.
• China also has plans to develop another port in Kyaukphyu in the Rakhine state, including a proposed railway line from Yunnan directly to the port, but the progress there has been stalled by unrest in Myanmar.
• Chinese planners have also looked at the Gwadar port in Pakistan as another key outlet to the Indian Ocean that will bypass the Malacca Straits. Gwadar is being developed as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to the far western Xinjiang region but has been slow to take off amid concerns over security.
• The costs and logistics through CPEC are also less favourable than the Myanmar route with the opening of the rail transport channel from the Myanmar border right to western China’s biggest commercial hub, Chengdu. Transportation time on the railway line from the Myanmar border to Chengdu takes three days.
• The Irrawaddy website that focuses on Myanmar news said the route is “the first to link western China with the Indian Ocean”.
• The railway line currently ends in Lincang on the Chinese side opposite the Myanmar border trade town of Chin Shwe Haw. Plans are underway to develop Chin Shwe Haw as a “border economic cooperation zone” under the Belt and Road Initiative.
• The Irrawaddy said the route goes through Mandalay, Lashio and Hsenwi on the Myanmar side and “is expected to become the lifeblood of international trade for China and Myanmar while providing a source of income for Myanmar’s military regime”.