INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
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Press Release
Unofficial
No. 2024/69
24 October 2024
The President of the International Court of Justice addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations
THE HAGUE, 24 October 2024. HE Judge Nawaf Salam, President of the International Court of Justice, today addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations to present the Court’s Annual Report for the 2023-2024 judicial year.
President Salam opened his speech by welcoming the interest shown by the General Assembly in the work of the Court. He noted that during the reporting period, “the Court’s docket has remained full, reflecting the trust of the international community in the principal judicial organ of the United Nations”. President Salam explained that there are currently 23 cases pending before the Court, five of which had been brought over the course of the reporting year — four contentious cases and one request for an advisory opinion by the International Labour Organization.
The President informed the Assembly that since 1 August 2023, the starting date of the period covered by the Annual Report, the Court had held 12 sets of hearings in ten cases, and had delivered two judgments and one advisory opinion, as well as eight orders on requests for the indication or modification of provisional measures and one order on the admissibility of declarations of intervention. The Court had also issued a number of orders on time-limits in a range of cases. He then provided an overview of the judgments, the advisory opinion and the substantive orders rendered by the Court during the period under review, underlining the increase in the number of requests for the indication of provisional measures and stressing that such requests “should not be used as a litigation tactic to advance arguments on the merits”. He also briefly touched upon the three cases currently under deliberation.
President Salam proceeded to announce that the Court had recently promulgated certain amendments to the Rules of Court, in particular to the provisions relating to interventions in contentious cases. He explained that the purpose of these amendments is to ensure greater procedural clarity for States seeking to intervene and to allow the Court to organize such cases in a streamlined and efficient manner.
The President then turned to the Trust Fund for the Court’s Judicial Fellowship Programme, established in 2021 by the Secretary-General at the request of the General Assembly. He informed the Assembly that four of the fifteen Judicial Fellows of the 2024-2025 cohort were recipients of a stipend through the fund. He noted that “the continued success of the Trust Fund initiative wholly relies on the continued generosity of donors, be they States, international financial institutions, donor agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, or natural and juridical persons”.
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Before closing his address, President Salam provided the General Assembly with an update on the asbestos-related situation at its seat, the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The President concluded his speech by focusing on the budgetary situation of the Court. He stated that the sustained increase in workload had placed a strain on the institution’s budgetary resources. President Salam informed the Assembly “that the situation is no longer sustainable”, underscoring that the approval of the Court’s 2025 budgetary request is essential to the continued fulfilment of its mission.
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The full text of the address by the President of the Court to the United Nations General Assembly and the Annual Report for the 2023-2024 judicial year are available on the Court’s website.
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Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.
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Information Department:
Ms Monique Legerman, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department: +31 (0)70 302 2336
Ms Joanne Moore, Information Officer: +31 (0)70 302 2337
Email: [email protected]
The President of the International Court of Justice addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations