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The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations.

 

It was established by the United Nations Charter, which provides that all Member States of the United Nations are ipso facto parties to the Court's Statute. The composition and functioning of the Court are organized by its Statute, and by the Rules of the Court which are drawn up by the Court itself. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is annexed to the Charter of the United Nations. The Court has a dual role. Firstly, it settles legal disputes between States submitted to it by them in accordance with international law and secondly, it gives advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by the authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases. The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges, elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. The two organs vote simultaneously but separately. However, under Article 31, paragraphs 2 and 3, of the Statute of the Court, a State party to a case before the International Court of Justice which does not have a judge of its nationality on the Bench may choose a person to sit as judge ad hoc in that specific case under the conditions laid down in Articles 35 to 37 of the Rules of Court.

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You can apply to the MUNLawS International Court of Justice as an Advocate or a Judge. The working procedure of the of the committee will be led by the President of the Court, who will also prepare the Study Guide that will be published on this website prior to the Conference. There shall be four Advocates in teams of two in the Court committee. One pair shall act on behalf of the Applicant and the other on behalf of the Respondent while presenting the case before the Court. Each pair shall prepare a written memorandum prior to the Conference and submit it to the Academic team. The memorandum will be reviewed by the MUNLawS Academic team and shall represent 1/3 of the final score of the advocates, based on which the Best Advocate title will be awarded. The presentation before the Court, scored by the Judges, shall represent the remaining 2/3 of the final score. Precise instructions on how to write a memorandum are published on this website. The Judges shall read the memorandums of the Applicant and the Respondent prior to the Conference. They shall then closely attend to the presentations of both parties, ask the Advocates questions with regard to their presentations and express their opinion during Judges’ deliberation. At the end of the presentation, the Judges shall vote on the pleadings made by the Advocates and write a judgment based on the outcome of the vote. Based on their performance during the sessions, the Judges’ work shall be scored by the President.

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