Project Description
To assist States willing to recognise as compulsory the jurisdiction of the ICJ, Switzerland has worked with the Netherlands, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Japan and Botswana on a publication to assist States wishing to recognize as compulsory the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
At the High-level meeting on the rule of law at the national and international levels in 2012, Switzerland has made the pledge to work, with the support of the Netherlands and the United Nations Secretariat, on a publication to assist States wishing to recognize as compulsory the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
The outcome of this pledge is the “Handbook on accepting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice”. This publication which has been created by Switzerland, together with the Netherlands, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Japan and Botswana. The handbook emphasizes the benefits of the ICJ for the peaceful settlement of disputes and aims at facilitating the access to the ICJ for interested States. It outlines also the process for accepting the jurisdiction of the ICJ through using examples of relevant instruments, template declarations and model clauses. The handbook is addressed to diplomats, legal advisers and political officers of foreign ministries, mediators and those who exercise ’good offices’ functions. But it is also addressed to members of delegations to international treaty negotiations, or anyone else who may find herself or himself advising on referring a contentious issue to the Court.
Thanks to the handbook, the number of States that accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ can be increased. This enables the ICJ to better reach its full potential in contributing to the peaceful settlement of disputes, to the maintenance of international peace and security as well as to the development of friendly relations among nations on the basis of the rule of law.
The handbook is a helpful instrument to assist States in recognising the jurisdiction of the ICJ or in submitting disputes to it. By the use of the handbook, it is possible to overcome technical obstacles which might arise in regards to the recognition of the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
Additionally, the fact that this project is being supported by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Japan and Botswana is a real asset for the distribution of the handbook. Since the Partner States represent different regional groups of the United Nations, the acceptance and the distribution of the handbook are much wider.
With the publication of the handbook in English, French and Spanish, and soon also in Russian, Arab and Chinese, all six official languages of the United Nations are being offered. A large amount of States can thus benefit from the handbook.
It is important to make the handbook available to as many States and people as possible, therefore the translation into different languages is crucial. With the publication of the handbook in the six official languages of the United Nations, a large outreach is guaranteed. Without such a wide coverage, the impact of the result of our pledge to assist States in recognizing as compulsory the jurisdiction of the ICJ would be much smaller.
The handbook has been published already in English, French and Spanish, online (https://www.eda.admin.ch/publikationen/en/eda/voelkerrecht/handbook-jurisdiction-international-court.html) as well as in print format.
The handbook will shortly also be available in Russian, Arab and Chinese, exclusively online.
