Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties and agreements
- List of abbreviations
- List of websites
- 1 Negotiation
- 2 Mediation
- 3 Inquiry
- 4 Conciliation
- 5 Arbitration
- 6 The International Court I: organisation and procedure
- 7 The International Court II: the work of the Court
- 8 The Law of the Sea Convention
- 9 International trade disputes
- 10 The United Nations
- 11 Regional organisations
- 12 Trends and prospects
- Appendices
- Index
7 - The International Court II: the work of the Court
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties and agreements
- List of abbreviations
- List of websites
- 1 Negotiation
- 2 Mediation
- 3 Inquiry
- 4 Conciliation
- 5 Arbitration
- 6 The International Court I: organisation and procedure
- 7 The International Court II: the work of the Court
- 8 The Law of the Sea Convention
- 9 International trade disputes
- 10 The United Nations
- 11 Regional organisations
- 12 Trends and prospects
- Appendices
- Index
Summary
The institutional features of the International Court, as we have just seen, exercise a major influence on both the readiness of states to employ international adjudication and the ability of the Court to respond to their requests. However, the judgments which the Court hands down show how it deals with disputes when given the opportunity, and are no less important. This is not the place to describe the Court's jurisprudence in detail, nor to consider its contribution to the development of international law. What is needed therefore is not a survey of the Court's case law, but rather an indication of what its day-to-day work reveals about the relation between the settlement of disputes and adjudication. The decision itself is a good place to start.
The Court's decision
Establishing the facts
Proving a case at the international level is primarily a matter of finding and presenting suitable documentary evidence. This material, which is relevant to both fact and law, includes treaty texts, official records of international organisations and national parliaments, diplomatic correspondence, archive material, maps, films, photographs and affidavits. The quantity of such evidence may be extremely large and as there are virtually no exclusionary rules, states can and do bring forward everything which might assist their case. Although the facility is little used, documentary evidence may be augmented by the oral testimony of witnesses and experts, or even by the Court itself visiting the scene.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- International Dispute Settlement , pp. 142 - 166Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011