« Peaceful settlement of international disputes » : différence entre les versions

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Whether a state is a party to the sometimes simple status, but sometimes diabolically difficult in the case of state succession, for years it has been uncertain whether Serbia and Montenegro are parties to the status, Serbia and Montenegro claim to be continuing states of the former Federal Yugoslavia. The Court in the genocide case had to navigate.
Whether a state is a party to the sometimes simple status, but sometimes diabolically difficult in the case of state succession, for years it has been uncertain whether Serbia and Montenegro are parties to the status, Serbia and Montenegro claim to be continuing states of the former Federal Yugoslavia. The Court in the genocide case had to navigate.


=== Compétence matérielle ===
=== Material competence ===
La compétence matérielle suppose trois conditions réunies :
Material jurisdiction presupposes three conditions:
#il doit y avoir un différend entre les États parties à l’instance ;
#there must be a dispute between the States parties to the proceedings;
#le différend doit être de nature juridique ;
#the dispute must be of a legal nature;
#le droit applicable doit être le droit international.
#the applicable law must be international law.
 
La Cour au contentieux ne tranche que des différends, s’il n’y a pas de différend, la Cour n’a rien à dire, il y a litige, cela est spécifié dans le cas de l’affaire Mavrommatis : « ''Un différend est un désaccord sur un point de droit ou de fait, une contradiction, une opposition de thèses juridiques ou d'intérêts entre deux personnes''. »
The Litigation Court only settles disputes, if there is no dispute, the Court has nothing to say, there is a dispute, this is specified in the case of Mavrommatis: "A dispute is a disagreement on a point of law or fact, a contradiction, an opposition of legal theses or interests between two persons. »
 
Ce qui est capital pour le différend est que tout au long de la procédure, la revendication d’un État continue à se heurter à une opposition de l’autre ; les États peuvent aussi abandonner certaines revendications dans le courant de la procédure, à ce moment-là, le différend pourrait disparaitre pendant la procédure à La Haye. À ce moment, la Cour considère qu’il n’y a plus d’objet à trancher comme dans le cas des essais nucléaires entre la France, la Nouvelle-Zélande et l’Australie. C’est la Cour qui détermine elle-même s’il y a un différend et de quelle nature est-il soit son ampleur.
What is crucial for the dispute is that throughout the proceedings, the claim of one State continues to encounter opposition from the other; States may also abandon certain claims during the proceedings, at which point the dispute could disappear during the Hague proceedings. At that time, the Court considered that there was no longer any object to be decided, as in the case of the nuclear tests between France, New Zealand and Australia. It is the Court itself that determines whether there is a dispute and what its nature is.
 
Les deux parties, de concert, ou alors, le demandeur, soit les deux ensembles, soit le demandeur doivent placer leur demande à la Cour sur le terrain du droit, ils doivent formuler des revendications juridiques. Toutes les revendications doivent être formulées en termes de droit. C’est ce critère subjectif qui est décisif.
Both parties, in concert, or either the applicant, either the two sets, or the applicant, must place their application to the Court in the field of law, they must make legal claims. All claims must be formulated in terms of law. It is this subjective criterion that is decisive.
 
Si, en revanche, le demandeur ou les deux parties de concert, si le demandeur ou les deux États ne se fondent pas sur le droit, mais demandent à la Cour de reconnaitre que l’État X devrait changer de politique étrangère contraire aux intérêts de l’État Y.
If, on the other hand, the applicant or both parties in concert, if the applicant or both States do not rely on the law, but ask the Court to recognize that State X should change its foreign policy contrary to the interests of State Y.
 
En principe, la revendication doit être formulée en termes de droit, mais non seulement basée sur le droit international ; on ne peut aller devant la Cour demander d’appliquer le droit national ; parfois le droit international renvoie au droit interne, mais sur renvoi du droit international. Parfois, il y a certaines difficultés qui donnent lieu à des élaborations intellectuelles plus poussées.
In principle, the claim must be formulated in terms of law, but not only on the basis of international law; the Court cannot be asked to apply national law; sometimes international law refers to domestic law, but on a reference from international law. Sometimes there are difficulties that lead to further intellectual development.
 
=== Compétence consensuelle ===
=== Consensual competence ===
Il faut que les États qui comparaissent devant la Cour aient consenti à sa compétence. Si la Cour rendait des arrêts contre la volonté des États, les États ne mettraient pas en œuvre les jugements.
The States appearing before the Court must have consented to its jurisdiction. If the Court were to make judgments against the will of States, States would not implement the judgments.
 
Le consentement protège la souveraineté, mais aussi la Cour, cela signifie que les États acceptent que la Cour puisse trancher le litige. Cela opère comme un filtre, contrairement à ce que pense le philistin, ce n’est pas parce que la Cour Internationale de Justice n’a pas de police que les arrêts ne sont pas appliqués. Aucun tribunal du monde n’a un quota du rang de la Cour Internationale de Justice.
Consent protects sovereignty, but also the Court, it means that States accept that the Court may decide the dispute. It operates as a filter, contrary to what the philistine thinks, just because the International Court of Justice does not have a police force does not mean that the judgments are not applied. No court in the world has a quota of the rank of the International Court of Justice.
 
La compétence consensuelle est fortement mise en avant par la Cour par exemple dans l’affaire du Timor Oriental dans l’affaire de 1995 « La Cour rappellera à cet égard que l'un des principes fondamentaux de son Statut est qu'elle ne peut trancher un différend entre des États sans que ceux-ci aient consenti à sa juridiction ».
Consensual jurisdiction is strongly emphasized by the Court, for example in the case of East Timor in the 1995 case "The Court will recall in this respect that one of the fundamental principles of its Statute is that it cannot settle a dispute between States without their consent to its jurisdiction".
 
== Comment peut-on donner son consentement ? ==
== How can I give my consent? ==
On distingue deux modalités principales et deux sous-modalités :
There are two main modalities and two sub-modalities:
 
L'acceptation de la compétence de la Cour par consentement avant la naissance du différend et le consentement donné après la naissance du différend :
Acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction by consent before the dispute arises and consent given after the dispute arises: When you give your consent before a dispute arises, you do not know what dispute may arise, you give your consent in blank, you submit to the Court for future disputes, the commitment is strong. When one consents to the jurisdiction or jurisdiction of the Court after a dispute has arisen, it is because one consents to the Court deciding that consent only.
Lorsqu’on donne son consentement avant la naissance d’un différend, on ne connait pas le différend qui pourra survenir, on donne un consentement en blanc-seing, on se soumet à la Cour pour des différends futurs, l’engagement est fort. Lorsqu’on consent à la compétence ou juridiction de la Cour après la naissance d’un différend c’est que l'on consent que la Cour tranche ce consentement uniquement.
 
The scope of consent is significantly greater when consent is given before a dispute arises than after. States more easily give their post hoc consent.
La portée du consentement est significativement plus grande lorsque le consentement est donné avant la naissance d’un différend qu’après. Les États donnent plus facilement leur consentement post hoc.
 
Category before the dispute arose: there are two main gateways to the Court:
Catégorie avant la naissance du différend : il y a deux grandes portes d’entrée vers la Cour :
*treaties which give jurisdiction for a particular class of disputes to the International Court of Justice  
*traités qui donnent compétence pour une classe de litiges déterminés à la Cour Internationale de Justice  
The treaty is consensual, States give their consent to the ratification of the treaty and all its clauses. Treaties provide for the settlement of a dispute.
Le traité est consensuel, les États donnent leur consentement à la ratification du traité et à toutes ses clauses. Des traités prévoient le règlement d’un différend.
*treaties that do not have as their object the settlement of the dispute, but any object
*traités qui n’ont pas pour objet le règlement du différend, mais un objet quelconque
Like the prohibition of chemical weapons, customs regimes, the natural environment, etc.; it is possible to insert in these treaties an arbitration clause which is generally found towards the end of the treaty, the parties to the treaty agree to grant the competence of the International Court of Justice to hear a dispute which may arise between them concerning the interpretation and application of the said convention.
Comme l’interdiction des armes chimique, des régimes douaniers, l’environnement naturel, etc. ; il est possible d’insérer dans ces traités une clause compromissoire qu’on trouve en règle générale vers la fin du traité, les parties au traité s’accordent pour accorder à la compétence de la Cour Internationale de Justice de connaitre d’un différend qui naitrait entre eux à propos de l’interprétation et de l’application de ladite convention.
 
Article 9 of the Genocide Convention provides that any State party to the Convention may bring an action before the International Court of Justice. The Court has jurisdiction on the basis of agreement. In the case of arbitration clauses, the Court's jurisdiction is limited, knowing what belongs to the convention and what is customary law applied in connection with the convention is relatively difficult.
L’article 9 de la Convention contre le génocide prévoit que tout État partie à la convention peut saisir la Cour Internationale de Justice. La Cour à compétence sur la base d’accord. Lorsqu’il s’agit de clauses compromissoires, la compétence de la Cour est limitée, savoir ce qui appartient à la convention et savoir ce qui est du droit coutumier appliqué à l’occasion de la convention est relativement difficile.
 
=== clause facultative de juridiction obligatoire – optional clause ===
=== clause facultative de juridiction obligatoire – optional clause ===
La juridiction est obligatoire, mais l’acceptation est facultative, car il est possible de faire une déclaration comme quoi on accepte la compétence, mais on peut aussi ne pas la faire ; compétence obligatoire ne veut pas dire compétence sans consentement, il y a consentement obligatoire de dire qu’il y a une compétence acceptée d’avance.
La juridiction est obligatoire, mais l’acceptation est facultative, car il est possible de faire une déclaration comme quoi on accepte la compétence, mais on peut aussi ne pas la faire ; compétence obligatoire ne veut pas dire compétence sans consentement, il y a consentement obligatoire de dire qu’il y a une compétence acceptée d’avance.

Version du 17 octobre 2018 à 15:34

General information

The importance of the peaceful settlement of disputes

The peaceful settlement of disputes is the subject we have constantly encountered during this course.

The dispute is therefore somewhere, not what is normal, but it is the least intimate at which the value of rules of international law can be measured because it is in the case of implementation and in the case of divergences that we see what must be done.

The peaceful settlement of disputes emerges from different aspects:

  • peacekeeping: peace is the condition to which everything else is subordinate, with peacekeeping involving a system whereby States can forward the complaint and have it dealt with. There is a close link between peacekeeping and the progress of disputes towards a solution.
  • justice component: reflects the importance of the peaceful settlement of disputes, because is it not right to offer means of realizing one's rights to those who hold them? The legal system can only function properly if the subjects who are composed do not too often have a disappointment in the realisation of their rights, otherwise the whole legal system suffers and the whole justice system is wrong.
  • legal security: it has been said that material rules are always somewhere as strong as the means of enforcement. We can grant rights as much as we want, but if there is no way to realize them they float in weightlessness.
  • question of order: the law is still as dedicated as ever to maintaining order, a mature legal system deals with disputes between its members, in the primitive legal system private justice is applied. A more mature legal system seeks to enforce an order and deals with disputes between its members. Between two states that distrust each other, even the easiest compromises will be extremely difficult to achieve; since this is the case, it is normal for them to become institutionalized and seek to provide services to their members because dispute resolution has a beneficial feedback for the social body. Cooperation requires trust and dispute resolution.

The predominant role of consensus and sovereignty

One would expect international law to pay particular attention to disputes and strong and binding rules in this regard; however, this is not the case; quite the opposite is true. International law is based on the rule of consent, disputes are settled by agreement.

  • Why is this the case?

Resolving disputes is deciding on concrete claims between States, resolving disputes is deciding who is right, it is deciding the dispute on the merits; if States were obliged to buy dispute resolution without their agreement then it would mean that these States would no longer be sovereign. Sovereignty is the ability to decide in the last resort. If another decides on a dispute and forces a solution, then we are no longer sovereign because we no longer decide as a last resort.

States have always considered that the resolution of binding disputes without their agreement would be incompatible with their sovereignty, and a system would be organised in which supranationality is required. In each case, the resolution of disputes must be accompanied by an agreement.

There can be no dispute settlement without an agreement that reduces the ability of the international legal order to digest disputes and bring them to a solution.

  • Is it so serious to resort to the will of States?

Not necessarily, between a decision that needs to be settled and the settlement of the dispute, time passes; in the end, if the States concerned cannot live with the solution, then the dispute is not resolved. We must ensure that States can live with the solution.

The fact that the agreement and consent of the States concerned are required is not a great loss, as the disputes are complex and have their roots in history.

Means of peaceful settlement of disputes

Assent can be given on an ad hoc basis, apart from the question of general assent to resolve a dispute, the issue of consent is in the choice of how to resolve a dispute.

In international law, the principle is that there is a free choice of means, in addition to which consent to a means of dispute settlement must be given concrete form:

The means of political solution are negotiations, good offices, mediation, conciliation and investigation; one State may wish to negotiate, another State may be interested in settling the dispute by going before the International Court of Justice through a jurisdictional means of settling a dispute which is recourse to arbitration and recourse to the tribunal

States may disagree on the means and as long as they disagree, the dispute cannot be resolved.

There are also objective reasons for wanting to favour this or that means, it may be a question of knowing what spectrum of discussion we want.

By choosing the means of political settlement, it is possible to deal with the whole dispute in all its aspects, including the political, psychological and financial aspects, there is total flexibility, it is possible to talk about everything and agree on everything, it is possible to attack the whole dispute in all its aspects. Before the International Court of Justice, we can only settle legal aspects, we must reduce disputes to legal aspects.

The International Court of Justice is not going to settle the political aspect of the dispute; according to the spectrum we want, at that moment we prefer negotiation, if we try to settle only one aspect of the dispute then we are interested in another method of settlement.

A powerful state always prefers negotiation because in direct negotiation, alone, a bilateral negotiation between a very powerful state and a very weak state, it is interesting for a powerful state to enter this constellation to play on its power. For the weak state, it wants everything but direct negotiation because it knows it will have a much more difficult position. The weak state has an interest in going to the International Court of Justice where power plays no role.

There are fundamental reasons, interests, visions of the dispute that make us prefer this or that means, the choice of means can be indifferent, even tough.

How do we solve it?

As long as States have a favourable position to settle the dispute, the work of the mediator or a personality will be to bring the parties together and find transactional solutions where everyone is satisfied.

There are political and jurisdictional means to resolve disputes, at the same time, there is the old distinction between legal and political disputes:

  • quality of the dispute;
  • quality of the medium.

Normally, political disputes must be directed to a political means while legal disputes can be directed to a means of jurisdictional solution; this is the question of choosing the right means.

Beyond that, there is no clear distinction because the two aspects are always intertwined in international law, which is a political right between nations, it is a public right between nations, every question of international law has its political aspect; one cannot by nature distinguish a legal and political dispute, one can only distinguish the claims of the parties in dispute.

If a State claims something from another State on the basis of a rule of international law then there is a legal dispute, a violation of the law comes with a duty to compensate.

On the other hand, all disputes based not on the application of the law, but rather on the modification of the law or which are in areas where there are no legal rules such as foreign policy, for example, in these cases we ask for the modification of the law, we want to establish a new regime or we ask for a certain foreign policy outside a rule of law.

In the choice of means of dispute settlement, there are, apart from the particular interests of a particular State, either the choice of political or judicial means; what exactly is the scope of this distinction in terms of means?

If we are going to talk about political modalities, we will always seek compromises and transactions, we are looking for a perspective outside the law, we are not seeking to enforce the law as it is, but to negotiate compromises, which means in international law to create new law crystallized in an agreement that is a treaty being a source of international law; we are looking for a settlement, a compromise that will create new law that will give great flexibility to address the whole dispute, but the political means of resolving a dispute do not lead to an automatic binding solution, the solution must be accepted by States in consensus:

  1. States must have the same attitude with initial consent;
  2. agree on the means;
  3. find an agreement in the negotiation.

The political means of settling a dispute are not binding, because the political process is based on a transaction, no one is obliged to compromise on their rights, if a state has rights, they are not obliged to abandon them for a compromise; they buy the ability to negotiate in a very flexible way by the relative disadvantage that the solution will not necessarily be adopted given that each of the states in dispute will have a veto right until the last moment.

In court proceedings, there are exactly the opposite advantages and disadvantages; the area of the treaty dispute is narrowing, it is only about the application of the law. Court proceedings buy back the disadvantage of reducing the dispute by the binding nature of the decision rendered, avoiding a step of consent: one must agree for an international tribunal to take up the case, but once the jurisdiction of a tribunal has been accepted, then the procedure takes its course and the judgment rendered is binding on the States concerned. There is also the possibility that the recalcitrant State may be turned away, the procedure continues even in the absence of such a State.

Assent relates to the acceptance of jurisdiction, consent is required to establish the jurisdiction of the Court, but once established, there are modalities to override the will of States.

Negotiation remains an extremely flexible process governed by international law in general so that it cannot be abused, for the rest, international law remains discretionary, but there are certain rules of good faith for example such as certain defects of consent such as fraud and corruption. Negotiations are formal or informal.

The good offices, in the good offices there is the intervention of a third party who uses its moral or political authority to establish contact between the States in dispute or restore this link if it had previously been broken in order to ensure that the States in question engage in negotiations and often the one offering the good offices, offers logistics. States will be provided with a discreet framework, a few officials, etc. The logistics are made so that States can move forward in the negotiations, but they do not participate; the negotiations are facilitated, but they do not participate.

If we do more than that, then we automatically become a mediator, and it is common for the person offering good offices to become a mediator later on.

The mediator engages in negotiations, he tries to approach the States not only to ensure that they negotiate, but he tries to bring them closer together in substance by making compromise proposals.

In order for a mediator to be successful, he or she must be accepted by the parties and, normally, should be equidistant to them.

The mediator must have certain qualities, they are high-ranking diplomats, you have to know the case very well, the sensitivity of the parties. The success of mediation depends on the circumstances.

Conciliation is a more formalized procedure, there is a conciliation commission often composed of five persons appointed as arbitrators who listen to the arguments first by written document and then by oral presentation, study the documents and try to find a compromise drawing up a report in which it makes a proposal for the settlement of the dispute; if the States then accept there is a compromise, if one of the States refuses, then the dispute is not resolved.

Investigation is a means of settling disputes concerning points of fact, sometimes between States it is not the consequences of certain acts that are contentious, but rather the existence of certain facts.

International arbitration

Arbitration differs from the Court of Justice in that it is less institutionalised, two disputing States may decide to appoint certain persons as arbitrators and to re-establish a tribunal that will make an award binding on the States parties to the dispute.

In arbitration agreements, States may determine the terms of the arbitration, the arbitrator is a body of the parties to the dispute that can appoint persons who will function as an arbitral tribunal and render their judgment.

The recourse to the International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice is not intended as a body that arbitrates in a binding manner all legal disputes between States.

The International Court of Justice is a service court, i.e. it is a court that is made available to States, which can use it if they so wish when they have disputes.

Jurisdiction can only be established if there is consent. It is a service court rather than a court of constraint. The International Court of Justice has succeeded in settling a significant number of disputes.

The first remark is that the current Court, the International Court of Justice, is the successor of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the latter was linked to the League of Nations and existed between 1920 and 1946 with the last judicial acts made in 1939; dissolved in 1946, its successor is the International Court of Justice. The current Court cites the case law of the former Court as its own.

The second remark is that the International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges elected for nine years and eligible for re-election; the age of the judges means that they have been able to run for two terms. The renewal of the Court is done every three years by 1/3, so 1/3 of the judges, i.e. 5 places are filled every three years, which does not mean that five new judges will arrive since one can be re-elected. There are also ad hoc judges who are judges for individual cases; States that do not have national judges sitting may refer ad hoc judges. The ad hoc judge is elected when none of the States parties to the proceedings has a national judge in the ordinary composition; this may amount to up to 17 judges sitting in a given case.

The Court is composed of 9 judges present, i.e. a quorum under Article 25.3 of the Statute of the Court. Judges are required to vote, there is no abstention of votes in a court so that a simple majority is required on each point of the system; each of the judges must vote on the points of the system, one can decide by a majority vote. It is also possible that the votes will be equally divided, the casting vote is the casting vote of the president who will be the president in article 55 of the statute.

There may be chambers if the parties choose not to have the full composition, States with a dispute may choose not to solicit all judges, but to request a chamber of 5 judges in Article 26 of the Statute. The most precise is Chamber 26.2 where the parties may elect the five judges of the Court whom they wish to see sit in their case.

The third remark concerns the way in which judges are elected either by the United Nations and the Security Council through a relatively complicated practice in Article 2 of the Statute by an absolute majority of votes.

The fourth remark is that there is an article 9 in the Statute of the Court recalling that in the election of judges, the General Assembly and the Security Council must take into account the major legal systems. There is an equitable geographical distribution because the International Court of Justice is a fair court, there is a key to distribution, the Americas have three judges, always one American, three Asian judges, always one Chinese, three African judges, one of whom comes from the Maghreb parties, three European judges, one of whom is British and one French judge represented on the Security Council, and two Central and Eastern European judges, always one Russian.

The jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice must be studied first and foremost, this gives a relatively clear view of what the Court can do.

When can the Court hear a case? When can she judge? Who can she judge?

The International Court of Justice has jurisdiction in two clearly distinct types of proceedings on all points except for the procedure:

Litigation procedure - litigation

In contentious proceedings, States, usually two States, a requesting State and a respondent State, confront each other before the Court on any issue. If the Court has jurisdiction, it will make a binding judgment, the binding character emerges from a principle of the quality of the court which makes binding judgments because the court applies the law which is binding on the parties, therefore the court which applies the law makes a binding judgment.

This is also apparent from the texts in Article 94.1 of the Charter and Article 59 of the Articles of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. States that have ratified the Charter and/or the Statute have accepted this provision, hence the binding nature of the Court's judgments. Judgments of the Courts are called judgments of judgments, the Court also makes orders that accompany the proceedings, judgments relate to litigation.

Advisory procedure

Advisory jurisdiction means that certain organs of the United Nations may bring an action before the Court for an opinion of law. However, the advisory opinion is not legally binding, it is a legal opinion that clarifies the body that requests it on the legal aspects of one or other of its activities without this opinion binding the requested body.

The purpose of this non-binding nature is to ensure that the body seeking the opinion can deal with the matter in non-legal terms. On the other hand, we do not want the political organ of the United Nations to be forced to put what the Court has given as its opinion because we do not want the Court to necessarily decide in law, we prefer to solicit the parties to reach an agreement.

These two procedures lead to very different results: binding for the contentious procedure, non-binding for the consultative procedure.

The Court's jurisdiction in contentious matters, in judicial matters jurisdiction means the ability of the International Court of Justice to decide a dispute submitted to it on the merits, States submit a problem to the Court on a different question.

Sometimes the defendant questions the Court's jurisdiction, it is the very first defence strategy, in which case a second dispute is grafted onto the first, there is a substantive dispute and a dispute over the Court's jurisdiction.

The Court is called upon to decide this dispute, if its jurisdiction is challenged, the Court will listen to the parties and decide through a judgment.

When the defendant raises a challenge to the Court's jurisdiction, it will be said that the defendant has raised a preliminary objection. The Court will first have to decide on the question of exceptions, if the Court does not have jurisdiction, this means that it has not been granted the right to speak on the merits, no State is obliged to postpone a dispute if the Court does not have jurisdiction.

There are three aspects of competence

  • personal jurisdiction - jurisdiction rationae personae: who may remain before the Court?
  • substantive jurisdiction - subject-matter jurisdiction: what kinds of questions may be submitted to the Court?
  • consensual jurisdiction - jurisdiction ratione concensus: question of consent, it is necessary to ensure that the litigants appearing before the Court have given jurisdiction to the Court.

Personal competence

Personal jurisdiction is regulated by article 34.1, which is a model of brevity, only States have the right to appear before the Court: only States may appear before the Court, other entities to the State may not appear before the Court. An international organization as well as an individual cannot appear before the Court. For international organizations, arbitration is provided for because they cannot go before the International Court of Justice.

Not only must we be a state, but we must also be a member of the United Nations that has automatically ratified the status since it is an integral part of the Charter. Or a State has ratified or acceded to the Statute without being a member of the United Nations, which is why the Statute is formally separate from the Charter.

The Statute in 35.2 and 35.3 gives way to the Court for States that are neither members of the United Nations nor have ratified the Statute; the Court is a Service Court, but under conditions specified by Security Council Resolution 91 of 1996, which is that basically States not party to the Statute recognize the principles of the Statute and a financial contribution.

Whether a state is a party to the sometimes simple status, but sometimes diabolically difficult in the case of state succession, for years it has been uncertain whether Serbia and Montenegro are parties to the status, Serbia and Montenegro claim to be continuing states of the former Federal Yugoslavia. The Court in the genocide case had to navigate.

Material competence

Material jurisdiction presupposes three conditions:

  1. there must be a dispute between the States parties to the proceedings;
  2. the dispute must be of a legal nature;
  3. the applicable law must be international law.

The Litigation Court only settles disputes, if there is no dispute, the Court has nothing to say, there is a dispute, this is specified in the case of Mavrommatis: "A dispute is a disagreement on a point of law or fact, a contradiction, an opposition of legal theses or interests between two persons. »

What is crucial for the dispute is that throughout the proceedings, the claim of one State continues to encounter opposition from the other; States may also abandon certain claims during the proceedings, at which point the dispute could disappear during the Hague proceedings. At that time, the Court considered that there was no longer any object to be decided, as in the case of the nuclear tests between France, New Zealand and Australia. It is the Court itself that determines whether there is a dispute and what its nature is.

Both parties, in concert, or either the applicant, either the two sets, or the applicant, must place their application to the Court in the field of law, they must make legal claims. All claims must be formulated in terms of law. It is this subjective criterion that is decisive.

If, on the other hand, the applicant or both parties in concert, if the applicant or both States do not rely on the law, but ask the Court to recognize that State X should change its foreign policy contrary to the interests of State Y.

In principle, the claim must be formulated in terms of law, but not only on the basis of international law; the Court cannot be asked to apply national law; sometimes international law refers to domestic law, but on a reference from international law. Sometimes there are difficulties that lead to further intellectual development.

Consensual competence

The States appearing before the Court must have consented to its jurisdiction. If the Court were to make judgments against the will of States, States would not implement the judgments.

Consent protects sovereignty, but also the Court, it means that States accept that the Court may decide the dispute. It operates as a filter, contrary to what the philistine thinks, just because the International Court of Justice does not have a police force does not mean that the judgments are not applied. No court in the world has a quota of the rank of the International Court of Justice.

Consensual jurisdiction is strongly emphasized by the Court, for example in the case of East Timor in the 1995 case "The Court will recall in this respect that one of the fundamental principles of its Statute is that it cannot settle a dispute between States without their consent to its jurisdiction".

How can I give my consent?

There are two main modalities and two sub-modalities:

Acceptance of the Court's jurisdiction by consent before the dispute arises and consent given after the dispute arises: When you give your consent before a dispute arises, you do not know what dispute may arise, you give your consent in blank, you submit to the Court for future disputes, the commitment is strong. When one consents to the jurisdiction or jurisdiction of the Court after a dispute has arisen, it is because one consents to the Court deciding that consent only.

The scope of consent is significantly greater when consent is given before a dispute arises than after. States more easily give their post hoc consent.

Category before the dispute arose: there are two main gateways to the Court:

  • treaties which give jurisdiction for a particular class of disputes to the International Court of Justice

The treaty is consensual, States give their consent to the ratification of the treaty and all its clauses. Treaties provide for the settlement of a dispute.

  • treaties that do not have as their object the settlement of the dispute, but any object

Like the prohibition of chemical weapons, customs regimes, the natural environment, etc.; it is possible to insert in these treaties an arbitration clause which is generally found towards the end of the treaty, the parties to the treaty agree to grant the competence of the International Court of Justice to hear a dispute which may arise between them concerning the interpretation and application of the said convention.

Article 9 of the Genocide Convention provides that any State party to the Convention may bring an action before the International Court of Justice. The Court has jurisdiction on the basis of agreement. In the case of arbitration clauses, the Court's jurisdiction is limited, knowing what belongs to the convention and what is customary law applied in connection with the convention is relatively difficult.

clause facultative de juridiction obligatoire – optional clause

La juridiction est obligatoire, mais l’acceptation est facultative, car il est possible de faire une déclaration comme quoi on accepte la compétence, mais on peut aussi ne pas la faire ; compétence obligatoire ne veut pas dire compétence sans consentement, il y a consentement obligatoire de dire qu’il y a une compétence acceptée d’avance.

La clause facultative est un moyen ingénieux pour que les États qui veulent se soumettre à la Cour puissent le faire à travers une déclaration unilatérale ; en fonction de celle-ci un État peut déclarer qu’il se soumet à la juridiction de la Cour vis-à-vis de tout autre État ayant aussi soumis à la Cour la compétence, mais cela peut être aussi limitatif.

Entre les différents États qui ont fait cette déclaration de compétence facultative se tisse un lien de compétence obligatoire ; la clause facultative est un moyen pratique d’essayer d’étendre la compétence obligatoire de la Cour, c’est un lien important qui oblige à défendre dans l’avenir des affaires qu’on ne veut pas défendre devant la Cour simplement parce qu’on a soumis à un engagement. À peu près un tiers des États du monde sont reliés par des clauses facultatives.

Les États qui font des déclarations peuvent faire des déclarations ouvertes pouvant se soumettre à la Cour sans raison quelconque, mais les États peuvent aussi mettre des réserves dans ces déclarations comme des réserves temporelles comme des disputes après une certaine date, ou alors, des réserves personnelles, il y a des réserves matérielles, on peut exclure certaines matières comme, par exemple, dans l’affaire de la compétence en matière de pèche libre Espagne contre Canada est une question qui portait sur certaines zones de la haute-mer.

Pour ces réserves, il y a la réciprocité. Lorsqu’un État fait une déclaration unilatérale en vertu de l’article 36.2 et qu’il émet une réserve, il veut se protéger contre un autre État qui saisirait la Cour, la réserve sert de bouclier or elle peut être invoquée réciproquement par l’État demandeur.

L’État A avec sa réserve et un État B, B porte l’affaire contre la Cour, si A soulève sa réserve, la Cour n’est pas compétente. Il pourrait y avoir une inégalité devant la Cour or ce n’est pas le but que de mettre des obstacles à la saisine de la Cour.

À l’article 36.2, il est possible que l’État B soulève par réciprocité la réserve à son bénéfice. Il n’est donc pas nécessaire d’avoir fait soit même une réserve pour en invoquer le bénéfice. Une fois la Cour saisie, l’État A est réservataire, le B est défendeur.

Tout d’abord, la déclaration facultative prend immédiatement effet au moment de son dépôt, c’est-à-dire dès qu’elle est reçue par le Secrétaire général des Nations-Unies, on peut déposer une déclaration et attaquer immédiatement après. Il est possible d’insérer une réserve pour se prémunir des attaques-surprises, mais l’attaque-surprise n’est pas nécessairement quelque chose de mauvais, car la compétence de la Cour est reconnue.

Une déclaration facultative peut être également retirée, un État peut dénoncer une déclaration facultative, c’est une pratique ancienne ; pour dénoncer la déclaration facultative il y a des modalités :

  • si la déclaration contient un délai pour la dénonciation, alors il faut l’appliquer.
  • si la déclaration ne dit rien sur des délais de dénonciation, la Cour a déterminé dans l’affaire du Nicaragua qu’il faut un délai raisonnable, cela est difficile à déterminer, six mois comme c’est une pratique très rependue dans les déclarations.

Il y a des modalités de saisine après la naissance du différend ; on souhaite saisir la Cour pour le différend X déjà né, il y a deux modalités :

  • soit par compromis spécial – special agreement – : c’est un accord, conclu normalement entre deux États à travers lequel ces deux États soumettent à la Cour un différend dans lequel ils précisent tout en soumettant à la Cour ce qu’ils souhaitent que la Cour fasse ; dans les différends de délimitation, les États doivent collaborer.
  • soit par le for prorogé : c’est une modalité d’exprimer le consentement d’une manière informelle ; le for prorogé veut dire qu’en l’absence d’un titre de compétente, la compétence de la Cour peut être établie si le défendeur ne s’y oppose pas. Comment cela peut-il arriver ? Dans le cas d’un État X qui saisit la Cour Internationale de Justice contre Y, il n’y a pas de titre de compétence, Y a la possibilité de faire un choix : refuser de comparaitre devant la Cour et à ce moment-là la Cour le constate et l’affaire reste en l’état, mais il est possible que Y accepte, il n’y a pas d’opposition de la part du défendeur, il y a de Y une acception par une lettre. Le for prorogé est un consentement soumis d’envoyer une lettre ou de ne pas adhérer à la compétence de la Cour. C’est un consentement assoupli qui voit soit d’un consentement assoupli ou informel ou alors d’un consentement implicite par le fait de ne pas soulever une affaire préliminaire dans le délai prévu. Parois, il s’agit simplement d’élargir un titre de compétence comme permettre à la Cour de reconnaître du droit coutumier, mais cela est possible que si le défendeur y consent. Comme peut-on constater qu’il le fait ? si le demandeur présente des arguments et que le défendeur ne soulève par une exception préliminaire alors la Cour considèrera que le défendeur a accepté cet élargissement de la compétence de la Cour Internationale de Justice.

Indépendance réciproque des bases de compétence

Chacun des titres est dépendant, chacune des voies est self-contain, un titre de compétence peut par exemple couvrir certains aspects de l’affaire alors qu’un titre de compétence peut couvrir d’autres aspects de l’affaire.

Perpétuation du for

Il y a en droit interne et aussi un droit international et donc à la Cour Internationale de Justice le principe de la perpétuation du for – perpetuatio fori – qui signifie que la compétence se juge uniquement au moment où la Cour est saisie. C’est à ce moment-là où elle doit être compétente. Si par la suite il arrive qu’un titre de compétence n’ait plus de valeur parce qu’il arrive à échéance, la compétence de la Cour reste jusqu’à la fin de l’affaire. Si une clause est dénoncée, parce qu’elle arrive à échéance dans trois semaines, la Cour Internationale de Justice est compétente jusqu’au jugement final.

Annexes

References