ICJ International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal United Nations judicial organ. Established in June 1945 by the UN Charter, the ICJ has dual jurisdiction, settling legal disputes submitted by States (contentious cases) and providing advisory opinions on questions of law (advisory proceedings). The International Court of Justice is open to all Member States of the United Nations and can be open to Non-Member states upon request, but is not open to private individuals. Dame Rosalyn Higgins, the first and only woman to be elected as President of the ICJ, served as President from 2006 to February 2009. Currently, three of the 15 judges are women - from Uganda, the United States of America, and China.

The ICJ has addressed, albeit minimally, the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict during disputes between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, in Kenya, and between Bosnia and Herzegovina with Serbia and Montenegro. In the latter case, the Genocide Convention was applied in the ICJ for the first time.

Source: International Court of Justice

Contact information

For more information, please visit the official ICJ website.