INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

 The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial body having trans-national jurisdiction

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) started work in 1946

The ICJ has its seat at The Hague, the Netherlands, and has the jurisdiction to settle disputes between countries and examine cases pertaining to violation of human rights

It is the judicial arm of the United Nations.

The UN Security Council is authorised by Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter to enforce Court rulings, but enforcement is subject to veto by permanent members of the Security Council.

The ICJ has a total strength of 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms of office.

Judges are elected by members of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, where polling takes place simultaneously but independent of each other.

In order to be elected, a candidate must have an absolute majority in both bodies, which often leads to much lobbying, and a number of rounds of voting.

In order to ensure a sense of continuity, especially in pending cases, elections are conducted triennially for a third of the 15-member Court

Judges are eligible to stand for re-election. Elections are held in New York during the autumn session of the United Nations General Assembly, and the elected judges enter office on February 6 of the subsequent year

After the Court is in session, a President and Vice-President are elected by secret ballot to hold office for three years.

If a judge were to die in office, resign, or be incapacitated to perform the duties expected of her, a special election is held as soon as possible to fill the vacancy for the unexpired duration of her tenure.

The Court also adheres to a rigid ethno-cultural matrix to ensure that it is representative of the 'main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world

at every election to the ICJ Of the 15 judges, it is mandated that three should be from Africa, two from Latin America and the Caribbean, three from Asia, five from Western Europe and other states, and two from Eastern Europe.

All states party to the Statute of the Court are eligible to propose candidates. The selection process is meant to be apolitical, and is made not by the government of the state concerned, but by the members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration designated by that state to represent its interests in the Court 

Each group can propose a maximum of four candidates, not more than two of whom may be citizens of the said country.

Basis of Selection of judges - It is held that all nominees should have a 'high moral character,' and credentials commensurate with those expected from the highest judicial officials of those countries.

The Charter also makes it mandatory for judges to have recognised competence in international law.

Every judge receives an annual base salary of $172,978, with the President receiving a supplementary allowance of $15,000

In order to keep the ICJ insulated from political influence, it is enshrined in the Charter that no judge can be dismissed, unless in the unanimous opinion of all peers, he is deemed to no longer fulfil the required conditions.

Article 33 of the United Nations Charter lists the following methods for the pacific settlement of disputes between States: negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and resort to regional agencies or arrangements, to which should also be added good offices.

Historically, mediation and arbitration preceded judicial settlement. The former was known in ancient India and the Islamic world, whilst numerous examples of the latter can be found in ancient Greece, in China, among the Arabian tribes, in maritime customary law in medieval Europe, and in Papal practice.

As per Article 94 of the Charter of the United Nations, all member states are required to comply with decisions of the ICJ.

When a state fails to comply, the Security Council has the power to impose sanctions against it and ensure compliance when international security and peace are at stake

Any one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with veto powers can block the enforcement of an ICJ decision against itself or its ally.

Jay Treaty of 1794 between the United States of America and Great Britain. Considered as history of arbitration. Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation provided for the creation of three mixed commissions, composed of equal numbers of American and British nationals, whose task it would be to settle a number of outstanding questions between the two countries. 

The Alabama Claims arbitration in 1872 between the United Kingdom and the United States marked the start of a second, even more decisive, phase.