Recueil Des Cours: Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law, 2009

The Role of Judicial Procedures in the Process of the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes by Mariko Kawano.The Charter of the United Nations provides for two features of the International Court of Justice; the principal judicial organ of the UN and the institution to be chosen by the parties to an international dispute which enjoy the freedom of choice of the peaceful means to settle their dispute. Thus, while the Court has an independent and authoritative status as a judicial organ in the international community, its jurisdiction is based on the consents expressed by the sovereign States parties to a respective dispute. It should also be noted that the Court is expected to contribute to the processof the peaceful settlement of international disputes as one of the principal organs of the UN. The present lecture discusses the roles to be played by the Court in the present international community through close and extensive examination of its jurisprudence.