The International Court of Justice and the United Nations

Abstract

At the end of the second decade of its activity the International Court of Justice finds itself in a serious crisis. The Judgment of the Court in the South West Africa cases (18 July 1966), and the reaction thereto on the part of the international community, are not the only causes of this predicament, although it would be idle to pretend that they have not powerfully contributed to it. Even before 1966 statesmen and scholars were concerned about stagnation in the development of international adjudication of which the Court was to be the principal instrument. Lack of confidence in the composition of the Court and the law which it applied was commonly identified as a proximate cause of this situation. However, these factors were but outward manifestations of yet deeper doubts—doubts regarding the role which international adjudication could and should play in the pattern of the international relations which has evolved since the end of World War II, and particularly following the rapid achievements of decolonization, and the consequent doubling of the membership of the United Nations. The attitudes of States were seen to be determined by the prevailing international tensions, by the emergent system of international politics characterized as bipolar, the technological developments which led to reappraisal of the requirements of national security, and the disparity between developed and developing nations; these are some of the more remote factors which left their imprint on the behaviour of States.