The Contribution of the International Court of Justice to the Development of the Law of the Sea and Environmental Law (original) (raw)

Abstract

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This article explores the significant contributions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in shaping the law of the sea and international environmental law. It argues that the ICJ has played a crucial role in protecting the marine environment through its jurisprudence, which has influenced the development of international treaties and customary laws governing these domains. By examining landmark cases such as the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project judgment, the article highlights the Court's unique authority and its impact on promoting coherence in international legal standards related to marine and environmental protection.

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References (32)

  1. See Stephen M. Schwebel, 'Fifty Years of the World Court: A Critical Appraisal', Are International Institutions Doing Their Job?, Proceedings of the 90th ASIL Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., 27-30 March 1996, 339, 345; and Plenary Address of H.E. Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, President of the International Court of Justice, on 'The Contribution of the ICJ to the Development of International Law', in The Hague, Legal Capital of the World, Pro- ceedings of The Hague's 750th Anniversary Conference, Kurhaus, 2-4 July 1998 (in press). Cf. Barbara Kwiatkowska, 'The Inter- national Court of Justice and the Law of the Sea -Some Reflec- tions', IJMCL, 11 (1996) 491-532; and Kwiatkowska, The Contri- bution of the International Court of Justice to the Development of the Law of the Sea, Guest Lecture Delivered at the Faculty of Law, University of Stockholm, Sweden, 1998, available at Internet address: ͗http://www.rgl.ruu.nl/english/isep/nilos- 1a.asp͘.
  2. PCIJ Series A, No. 1, (1923), 11 and 15.
  3. ICJ Reports 1947/1948, 15; (1949), 1 and 244.
  4. The constituent instruments of ITLOS and its decisions are available at ͗http://www.un.org/Depts/los/F.htm͘. For Saint Vinc- ent and the Grenadines M/V Saiga judgment of 4 December 1997 (Case No.1), see also (1998) 37 ILM 360; and for M/V Saiga (Provisional Measures) Order of 11 March 1998 (Case No. 2), see id., 1202.
  5. For the status of the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Con- vention and of the 1994 Agreement Relating to the Implemen- tation of Part XI of the Convention, as at 1 April 1998, see United Nations Law of the Sea Bulletin, 12 (1998) 36.
  6. PCIJ Series A, No. 23, (1929), 1.
  7. See Schwebel, 'The Contribution of the ICJ', n. 1 above.
  8. ICJ Reports 1997. The Gabc ˇı ´kovo-Nagymaros Project judgment, delivered under Presidency of H.E. Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, is available at the Court's Internet address: ͗http://www.icj- cij.org͘, and was reprinted in (1998) 37 ILM 162. For a summary of the judgment, see EPL, 28 (1998) 12-20.
  9. ICJ Communique ´No. 98/28, 3 September 1998, and No. 98/31, 7 October 1998. Cf. Statements delivered by ICJ President Stephen M. Schwebel to the 52nd and the 53rd United Nations General Assembly in 1997 and 1998, n. 14 below.
  10. Schwebel, 'The Contribution of the ICJ', n. 1 above, on the con- cept of an intrinsic authority of the Court's decisions expounded by Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, The Development of International Law by the International Court, (Cambridge, Cam- bridge University Press, 1934/1982).
  11. Schwebel, 'The Contribution of the ICJ', n. 1 above, citing the Belgium v. Spain Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Limited (Second Phase) judgment, (1970) ICJ Rep. 33.
  12. See Statements of H.E. Ambassador Satya N. Nandan (Fiji), UN Docs A/48/PV.99, 1-6, at 2 (1994), and A/49/PV.77, 1-5 (1994);
  13. and of H.E. Legal Counsel Dr. Hans Corell, Doc. A/48/PV.101, 19-21, at 20 (1994).
  14. Cf. Statement of H.E. Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, President of the International Court of Justice, to the 52nd United Nations General Assembly, UN Doc. A/52/PV.36th Plenary Meeting-27 October 1997, 1, 1-3; reprinted in AJIL, 92 (1998) 612 at 612- 14. This Statement, and likewise the Statement delivered by President Schwebel to the 53rd United Nations General Assembly on 27 October 1998, are also available at the Court's Internet address: ͗http://www.icj-cij.org͘. Cf. also Keynote Speech by President Stephen M. Schwebel on: 'The Influence of the International Court of Justice on the Work of the Inter- 1998 on Agreement on Cooperation and Relationship Between the United Nations and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and ITLOS Press Release, No. 16, 20 October 1998.
  15. Cf. Elihu Lauterpacht, 'The First Decision of the ITLOS: The M/V Saiga', in G. Hafner et al. (eds), Liber Amicorum Professor Seidl- Hohenveldern, (1998) 395-418; Barbara Kwiatkowska, 'Inaugur- ation of the ITLOS Jurisprudence: The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines v. Guinea M/V Saiga Cases', Ocean Development and International Law, 29 (1998).
  16. Shabtai Rosenne, 'Establishing the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea', AJIL, 89 (1995) 806 at 814.
  17. See analysis of this aspect by Kwiatkowska, n. 30 above, in relation to the 1997 M/V Saiga judgment, para.51 (n. 4 above), relying on the Greece v. UK Ambatielos (Merits: Obligation to Arbitrate) judgment, (1953) ICJ Rep. 18, and to the 1998 M/V Saiga (Provisional Measures) Order, n. 4 above.
  18. Schwebel, 'The Contribution of the ICJ', n. 1 above. 34. Id.
  19. New Zealand v. France Nuclear Tests (Request for an Examination of the Situation) Dissenting Opinion of Judge Weeramantry, (1995) ICJ Rep 345. See also Statement by H.E. Judge Sir Robert Jennings, President of the International Court of Justice, to the UNCED, 3-14 June 1992, in ICJ Yearbook 1991-1992, 212-8 (No. 46);
  20. and R.Y. Jennings, Note pre ´liminaire, 65 Annuaire IDI [Ses- sion de Milan], (1993) 279 at 282.
  21. See Spain v. Canada Fisheries Jurisdiction Verbatim Record, President Schwebel Presiding, CR 98/12 [transl.] 52 (Counsel Weil, 12 June 1998).
  22. See Alfred Rest, 'Need for an International Court for the Environment?-Underdeveloped Legal Protection for the Individ- ual in Transnational Litigation', EPL, 24 (1994) 173-87, and Draft Resolution of International Council for Environmental Law (ICEL), id. 204; Gerhard Loibl and Markus Reiterer, 'Criminal Law and the Protection of the Environment', EPL, 27 (1997) 400;
  23. and Alfred Rest, 'Which Judicial Institution for the Environmen- tal Cause, If Not an International Court?', EPL, 28 (1998).
  24. See 97th Annual Report of Permanent Court of Arbitration (1997) 19, para. 60. For arguments in favour of that PCA's role, see Rest, 'Which Judicial Institution', n. 37 above.
  25. Sir Robert Jennings, 'The International Court of Justice After Fifty Years', AJIL, 89 (1995) 493 at 504; and remarks by Presi- dent Schwebel, 'Fifty Years of the World Court', n. 1 above, at 347, on daunting prospects in this respect.
    1. ICJ Rep. 15, as discussed by Jennings, n. 39 above. The ELSI Chamber was presided over by Judge Jos M. Ruda and also comprised Judges Shigeru Oda, Roberto Ago, Stephen M. Schwebel and Sir Robert Jennings.
  27. See, e.g., Shigeru Oda, 'The International Court of Justice Viewed From the Bench (1976-1993)', Recueil des cours, 244:12 (1993-VII) 153-4; Mohammed Bedjaoui, 'Mythes et realites d'une relance du reglement judiciaire des differends internationaux', in Yves Daudet (ed.), Actualites des conflits internationaux, Col- loque des 4 et 5 de ´cembre 1992, (1993) 125 at 133; Gilbert Guil- laume, 'The Future of International Judicial Institutions', ICLQ, 44 (1995) 848 at 854-5. Abdul G. Koroma, 'Interpretation of International Law', in Contemporary International Law Issues, Proceedings of the Third ASIL/NVIR Joint Conference (1996) 154- 7;
  28. Jonathan I. Charney, 'The Implications of Expanding Inter- national Dispute Settlement Systems', AJIL, 90 (1996) 69-75;
  29. Carl-August Fleischhauer, 'The Relationship Between the Inter- national Court of Justice and the Newly Created International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg', Max Planck Year- book of United Nations Law, 1 (1997) 327-33.
  30. See Shabtai Rosenne, The Law and Practice of the International Court 1920-1996, Vols I-IV, 1651 (3rd Edition 1997), quoting Kwiatkowska, 'The International Court', n. 1 above, at 501 n. 49. This author based herself, in turn, on S.M. Schwebel, Justice in International Law -Selected Writings of Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, Chapter 2: Relations Between the International Court of Justice and the United Nations, 14, at 18.
  31. Schwebel, 'The Contribution of the ICJ', n. 1 above.
  32. See Judge Edward Laing, 'ITLOS' Approach to Article 292 of the UN Law of the Sea Convention -The Saiga #1', a paper presented at the 68th ILA Conference, Taipei, Taiwan, 24-30 May 1998, remarking on the first M/V Saiga case (n. 4 above) that: The differences between the Tribunal and the dissenters