Jurisdiction of ICJ
International Court of Justice (ICJ) derives its jurisdiction from a voluntary declaration by each State that accepts its jurisdiction. Islamic Republic of Pakistan has filed a fresh declaration submitting to the jurisdiction of ICJ on March 29, 2017.
ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter, signed in 1945 at San Francisco (United States), and began work in 1946 in the Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands).
The Court, which is composed of 15 judges, has a dual role: in accordance with international law, settling legal disputes between States submitted to it by them and giving advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases. At present, this basically means the 192 United Nations Member States.
The Court has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, non-governmental organizations, corporations or any other private entity. It cannot provide them with legal counselling or help them in their dealings with the authorities of any State whatever.
However, a State may take up the case of one of its nationals and invoke against another State the wrongs which its national claims to have suffered at the hands of the latter; the dispute then becomes one between States.
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