Summary:
- Introduction
- Permanent
- Public International Law
- Sovereign Aspect of States´ Conduct
- Own specific governing rules and procedural rictus
- Unrelatedly to a Specific Case
- Difference Between Court and Tribunal
- Commercial Arbitration
- Other Non-Adjudicatory Mechanisms
- International Courts and Tribunals “lato sensu”
- Conclusion: The importance of judicial bodies in Public International Law
- Recommeded Additional Readings
Introduction
From a more limited perspective, but according to the general idea, which is tailored by a narrower view of International Justice, International Courts and Tribunals are (a) permanent supranational entities established in accordance with (b) Public International Law, either under the umbrella of an international organization or as independent bodies, (c) with global or regional competence to adjudicate disputes where necessarily the sovereign aspect of States’ conduct is concerned, (d) following their own specific governing rules and procedural rictus, whose jurisdiction, which may be compulsory or not, is handled by independent adjudicators (e) vested in power unrelatedly to a specific case.
It is remarkable that the most restricted a concept is the greatest number of conditions it is supposed to require to fulfil.
Permanent
for instance, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is an example of the former, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) represents the latter.
Public International Law
According to that view, International Courts and Tribunals are tasked with peacefully settlement of disputes under certain conditions or prerequisites of International Law in general and following
Typically, when an International Court or Tribunal is established within the structure of an organization, its jurisdiction is mandatory (compulsory) and specialized. This means that the member States or parties to the organization are obliged to accept the Court’s or Tribunal’s jurisdiction to resolve disputes among them that pertain to matters associated with the organization’s purpose. For instance, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is “the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations” through “agreements negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world´s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments” with the goal of ensuring “that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible“. Thus, should a dispute arise between member States regarding trade interests, they are obligated to resort to the judicial mechanisms of the WTO, namely the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), In the event that they cannot reach an amicable solution independently.
Sovereign Aspect of States’ Conduct
Perhaps, the United Nations is the sole International Organization whose main judicial body, the ICJ, does not hold a compulsory jurisdiction as an automatic consequence of its membership acceptance, and the reason for that distinctive feature stems from the overarching goal of global peace and unrestricted humanitarian intent set forth in the 1945 San Francisco Charter, which mandates the UN’s universality with minimal encroachment on State sovereignty as is desirable.
It must be recalled that, still under that stricto sensu concept, International Courts and Tribunals are permanent or standing fora, opposite to ad hoc adjudicator bodies, such as arbitral institutions constituted through special agreements, such as the Geneva Arbitration for the Lake Lanoux case.
From this narrow view of International Courts and Tribunals, it can be drawn that they are limited to those judicial bodies that entertain disputes either between States (all the nature of disputes, territorial, maritime, trading, etc.) or between States and individuals (specifically, human rights matters in general).
Nevertheless, it is worth noticing that the concept of International
Own specific governing rules and procedural rictus
Notice that “ad hoc” Arbitral Tribunals will or will not be regarded as an International Court or Tribunal, even when they are seised of a major State-State dispute, depending upon the narrower or broader point of view or concept of “Court” or “Tribunal” in the International Law scenario might be adopted.
The concept of International Courts and Tribunals is not universally defined; it varies depending on the political or legal perspective from which these entities are viewed.
Moreover, the terms ‘International Courts’ and ‘International Tribunals’ generally refer to judicial entities designed to settle disputes between States or between States and individuals, in accordance with particular areas of law such as criminal law, human rights, investments, and numerous other State-concerned treaties.
unrelatedly to a specific case
Difference Between Court and Tribunal
Commercial Arbitration
Other Non-Adjudicatory Mechanisms
International Courts and Tribunals “lato sensu”
Conclusion: The importance of judicial bodies in Public International Law
As J.G. Merrills underlines, there is a delay in the establisment of the rule of law in States’ relations when compared to the emerge of the rule of law within the domestic confines of the relations between peoples and their respective sovereign authorities. Indeed, whereas the rising of judicial bodies in the domestic organisation of the States is the cornerstone of the ultimately step of legality between citizens and the Governments under which power the former lives, in the international scenario, the instituion of supranational judicial bodies represents as well the inflection point in the relations among States, where, at least sometimes, mighty has to subject to legal reason.
So conceptualized the international courts and tribunals, one can point out that, in the middle run, such judicial
Recommeded Additional Readings
There are a few recommended readings on this subject:
Romano, Cesare P.R., A Taxonomy of International Rule of Law Institutions (November 29, 2010). Journal of International Dispute Settlement, Forthcoming, Loyola-LA Legal Studies Paper No. 2010-55, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1717025
The Proliferation of International Bodies: The Pieces of the Puzzle Cesare P.R. Romano (the text can be read by downloading the PDF from the Professor´s site, Cesare Romano)
