RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
| Date | 01 January 1970 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1970.tb01251.x |
| Author | D. H. N. Johnson |
| Published date | 01 January 1970 |
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE
INTERNATIONAL COURT
OF
JUSTICE
THE SOUTH-WEST AFRICA
CASES
IT
is proposed in this article
to
summarise briefly recent develop-
ments concerning the International Court
of
Justice. The Court ,is
still suffering to some extent from the storm aroused by its judgment
in the second phase
of
the
South-West Africa Cases,l
in which
“
the
Court, by the President’s casting vote-the votes being equally
divided 24ecides
to
reject the claims of the Empire of Ethiopia
and the Republic
of
Liberia.” These claims related
to
the alleged
maladministration by South Africa of South-West Africa for which
it had been granted a Mandate under article
22
of
the Covenant of
the League
of
Nations
on
December
17, 1920.
The Court had
found
on
December
21, 1962
by eight votes
to
seven that
“
it has
jurisdiction
to
adjudicate upon the merits of the dispute.” The
judgment given in the second phase was not a formal reversal
of
that given in the first because the Court did not declare itself to be
without jurisdiction, but instead
it
rejected the claims of the
applicants
on
the ground that those States could not be
‘‘
considered
to have established any legal right
or
interest appertaining
to
them
in the subject-matter of the present claims.” The second judgment
has therefore not unreasonably been called
an
“
effective reversal
”
of the first. Some commentators simply find
it
hard to credit that
‘‘
the principal judicial organ
of
the United Nations
”
should
miss an opportunity
to
condemn South Africa, but responsible
criticism has centred around the following points: (i) that,
if
it
really was the case that the applicants had
no
legal right
or
interest
in the subject-matter
of
their claims,
it
should not have taken six
years of extremely expensive and elaborate proceedings before that
fact could be determined;
(C)
that in
1962
the Court had rejected
a South African objection
to
jurisdiction based
on
the argument that
the applicants had
no
interests involved in the dispute; and (iii) that
the question of the interest of the applicants was scarcely discussed
by the parties in the second phase.
These cases have already stirred up a vast literature.
For
many
years to come international lawyers will
bd
in the official volumes
of
Pleadings, Oral Arguments, Documents
that have emerged from
them a veritable storehouse of material
on
the history of the man-
dates, human rights, apartheid and many other issues. Those
who wish for more rapid enlightenment may usefully consult a small
I.C.J.
Reports
1966,
p.
6.
2
Seven
votes
to
seven.
3
I.C.J.
Reports
1962,
p.
319.
4
Statute
of
the
International
Court
of
Justice, art.
1.
53
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