The purpose of the Handbook is to provide, without excessive detail, the basis for a better practical understanding of the facts concerning the history, composition, jurisdiction, procedure and decisions of the International Court of Justice. In no way does it commit the Court, nor does it provide any interpretation of the Court’s decisions, the actual texts of which alone are authoritative. The Handbook was first published in 1976, with six further editions in 1979, 1986, 1996 (on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Court’s inaugural sitting), 2004, 2014, and 2019.
|