Having had the privilege of being the pupil of Professor R. Y. Jennings, as he then was, and the beneficiary of his guidance and friendship for over a third of a century, and the even rarer privilege of serving beside him as counsel before the International Court of Justice, then as judge ad hoc during his presidency of the Court, I was intrigued by his occasional use of ‘World Court’ to refer to the ICJ.

Indeed, this reference to the ICJ (and the Permanent Court of International Justice before it) as ‘the World Court’, which probably goes back to Judge Manley O. Hudson and which is current in legal literature in English, is unknown in other languages such as French, Italian, Spanish or for that matter Arabic. It raises in the mind of the non-common law jurist the following query: in what sense and what ways can the International Court be considered a ‘World Court’?

THE INTERNATIONAL COURT AS A WORLD-WIDE COURT

The first meaning that suggests itself is that it is a court of and for the whole world. As such, it is expected to be universalist in its composition, outlook and vocation, truly representing and at the service of the international community in its entirety, and not dominated by the legal or social culture or special interests of any segment thereof. This in turn would ensure that the Court and its judgments command the confidence of all the nations of the world.