New Challenges for the International Court of Justice as a mechanism for international dispute settlement

Since the time of its first inaugural session some 75 years ago, the International Court of Justice has consolidated itself as a mechanism for international dispute resolution. Over the years, it has come to adjudicate a growing number of disputes involving states from four continents. It also settles disputes on a wide range of themes, not only more traditional ones, such as territorial and maritime delimitation, but also new ones, including financing of terrorism, sanctions, environmental conservation and grave crimes. Moreover, other international courts and tribunals whose specialized competences overlap with those of the Court have been created. These developments raise new challenges for the Court that will be identified and analyzed in this research project. With this aim in mind, we will consider questions related to both substantive and procedural aspects that affect the Court’s functioning, including the scope of its competences and its composition; its connection with diplomatic negotiations in the settlement of international disputes; as well as the relation between the Court and other international jurisdictions, such as ITLOS, arbitral tribunals and international criminal justice. We will also seek to evaluate the usefulness of the Court and visualize solutions to the challenges it currently facing.

On 21 October 2019, the project organized a first conference on the new challenges for the International Court of Justice as a mechanism for international dispute settlement at the UAM Law Faculty, and on 17-18 December 2020, it organized a second conference entitled “New challenges for the International Court of Justice. The relation between the ICJ and other international jurisdictional organs and human rights”, also at the UAM Law Faculty. Information about this event can be found here: https://eventos.uam.es/58361/detail.