The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). As such, its primary role is to assist the other organs of the UN achieve the objective of the United Nations Charter (UN Charter); namely, the peaceful resolution of disputes between states. The Court fulfills this responsibility by resolving legal questions so that either the parties or the UN can find a political solution. The Court sits in the famous Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands.

History

The ICJ is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was forced to relocate to Geneva during World War II (1939–1945). Although the PCIJ continued with administrative matters, its operations effectively ceased. No mention of a world court occurred in the initial planning for postwar reconstruction (the Atlantic Charter and the Four Nations Declaration on...