Question

What are some things that often prevent states from participating in international law and courts?

Answer 1

Why are some disputes between States not considered by the Court?

The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more States. It cannot deal with a dispute on its own initiative. Neither is it permitted, under its Statute, to investigate and rule on acts of sovereign States as it chooses.

The States involved in the dispute must also have access to the Court and have accepted its jurisdiction, in other words they must consent to the Court’s considering the dispute in question. This is a fundamental principle governing the settlement of international disputes, since States are sovereign and free to choose how to resolve their disputes.

A State may manifest its consent in three ways:

• by a special agreement: two or more States with a dispute on a specific issue may agree to submit it jointly to the Court and conclude an agreement for this purpose;
• by a clause in a treaty: over 300 treaties contain clauses (known as jurisdictional clauses) by which a State party undertakes to accept the jurisdiction of the Court should a dispute arise with another State party about the interpretation or application of the treaty;
• by a unilateral declaration: the States parties to the Statute of the Court may opt to make a unilateral declaration recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court as binding with respect to any other State also accepting it as binding. This optional clause system, as it is called, has led to the creation of a group of States each of which has given the Court jurisdiction to settle any dispute that might arise between them in future. In principle, any State in this group is entitled to bring one or more other States in the group before the Court. Declarations may contain reservations limiting their duration or excluding certain categories of dispute. They are deposited by States with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.