Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Prof., Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Ph.D. Student in International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In most cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the respondents in accordance with the Rules of Court, raise a preliminary objection to the jurisdiction of the Court, the admissibility of the application or other objections. Upholding a preliminary objection in a particular field prevents the Court from exercising its jurisdiction in that field.“Non-existence of dispute” has been one of the most important grounds for preliminary objections to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice from the past to the present. Accordingly, the respondent claims that, essentially, there is no dispute between parties in the case at hand. This article examines definition, importance, nature, and requirements of “dispute”. Then the basics of the existence of dispute will be discussed, such as the subject-matter of the dispute (real dispute), its relevance with parties, its determination and objectivity, concurrence and awareness requirements, prohibition of increasing and changing the dispute, threshold of existence of dispute and the burden of proof, in the light of Articles (79), (79bis) and (79ter) of the Rules of Court, its Statute and judicial procedure.

Keywords

1. فارسی
مقالات
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2. انگلیسی
A) Books
1. Amerasinghe, Chittharanjan Felix (2003), Jurisdiction of International Tribunals, Hague, Kluwer law International.
2. Amerasinghe, Chittharanjan Felix (2009), Jurisdiction of Specific International Tribunals, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
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5. Tomuschat, Christian (2006), “Article 36”, in: A. Zimmermann, C. Tomuschat, K. Oellers-Frahm, C. J. Tams, (eds.), The Statute of the International Court of Justice, A Commentary, Oxford University Press.
6. Weisburd, A. Mark (2016), Failings of the International Court of Justice, Oxford University Press.
7. Yee, Wuhan Sienho (2012), “Article 40”, in: A. Zimmermann, C. Tomuschat, K. Oellers-Frahm, C. J. Tams, (eds.), The Statute of the International Court of Justice, A Commentary, Oxford University Press, (EPUB Version), pp 2586-2821.
 
B) Articles
8. Bonafé, Béatrice I. (2017), “Establishing the existence of a dispute before the International Court of Justice: Drawbacks and implications”, Questions of International law (Zoom-out), Vol 45, pp. 3-32.
9. Gray, Christine (2003), “The Use and Abuse of the International Court of Justice: Cases concerning the Use of Force after Nicaragua”, European Journal of International Law, 14, pp. 867-905.
10. Parlett, Kate (2012), “International Court of Justice’s Decisions on Preliminary Objection in Georgia v. Russia: Towards Formalism?”, The Cambridge Law Journal, Vol. 71, Issue 1, pp. 56-58.
11. Olleson Simon, "Killing Three Birds with One Stone"? The Preliminary Objections Judgments of the International Court of Justice in the Legality of Use of Force Cases, Leiden Journal of International Law,18 (2005), pp. 237-255 (In Persian).
 
C) Cases
12. ICJ Judgment, Aegean Sea Continental Shelf, 9 December 1978.
13. ICJ Judgment, Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Space in the Caribbean Sea, 17 March 2016.
14. ICJ Judgment, Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1 April 2011.
15. ICJ Judgment, Case Concerning the Northern Cameroons, 2 December 1963.
16. ICJ Judgment, Certain Property, 10 February 2005.
17. ICJ Judgment, Immunities and Criminal Proceedings, 6 June 2018.
18. ICJ Judgment, Interhandel case, ICJ, 1959, 21 March 1959.
19. ICJ Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestine Territory, 9 July 2004.
20. ICJ Judgment, Legality of Use of Force, 15 December 2004.
21. ICJ Judgment, Nuclear Tests, 20 December 1974.
23. ICJ Judgment, Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean, 24 September 2015.
24. ICJ Judgment, Obligations Concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament, 5 October 2016.
25. ICJ Judgment, Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie, 27 February 1998.
26. ICJ order, Relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, (Order of 15 November 2018.
27. ICJ Judgment, South West Africa Cases, (Judgment of 21 December 1962.
28. ICJ Judgment, Territorial and Maritime Dispute, 13 December 2007.
29. PCIJ Judgment, The Mavrommatis Palestine Concessions, 30 August 1924.
 
D) Documents
30. Counter-memorial of the Republic of India, Obligation concerning negotiations relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India), 16 September, 2015.