International Court of Justice

• ICJ
• Principal judicial organ of the United Nations
• Established in June 1945 by the Charter if the UN
• Role - 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 UN organs and specialized agenices
• Composed of 15 judges elected to 9-year terms of office by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council voting separately

Significance

• Apply the rule of law to international disputes
• Drawn baselines concerning issues such as territorial waters, fishing rights and methods of calculating the continental shelf beneath the sea
• Settles international disputes - eg. border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras - 'soccer war' of…