The Court

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in Hague (Netherlands). The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.

International law consists of a body of treaties, customary laws, judicial decisions and other relevant sources that play a central role in promoting economic and social development, as well as international peace and security among the nations of the world. The treaties negotiated under UN auspices have formed the basis for laws governing relations among nations. While the UN's work in this area does not always receive much attention, it has a daily impact on the lives of people everywhere. Much of the political process of the UN is devoted to establishing or extending international laws, rules and standards covering the full range of human activities. These include norms governing human rights, refugees and stateless persons, traffic in persons, narcotic drugs, international trade and development, transportation and communications, the status of women, the freedom of information, the law of the sea, use of outer space, telecommunications, disarmament, international terrorism and the protection of the environment. While some of these topics may appear not to affect our daily lives, in reality they do, whether they regulate the quality of the air we breathe, the variety of goods available for purchase, the impact of drug trafficking on the functioning of a culture, or the interaction of people around us from other countries and cultures. For example, pollution from automobiles in London or Mexico City may affect the climate in Rabat or Tokyo, as carbon dioxide and other gases from factories and cars cause the atmosphere to heat up. Drug enforcement programs in a country like Colombia can have significant consequences on employment sustained by drug money in the tourist industry. Civil unrest in a neighboring country can produce large numbers of refugees seeking asylum across the border. The United Nations has helped negotiate treaties setting the standard of inter-state relations on each of these areas.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-19