International court
Encyclopedia
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
such as the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
— this includes ad hoc tribunals and permanent institutions, but excludes any courts arising purely under national authority.
Early examples of international courts include the Nuremberg and Tokyo
International Military Tribunal for the Far East
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East , also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, or simply the Tribunal, was convened on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" crimes were reserved for those who...
tribunals established in the aftermath of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Three such courts are presently located at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY), the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
(ICJ), and the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
(ICC). Further international courts exist elsewhere, usually with their jurisdiction restricted to a particular country or issue, such as the one dealing with the genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s and high-level staff of such courts may be afforded diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
if their governing authority so allows. International courts should be distinguished from international arbitration
International arbitration
International arbitration is a leading method for resolving disputes arising from international commercial agreements and other international relationships...
forums.
List of international courts
Global
- International Court of JusticeInternational Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
- International Criminal CourtInternational Criminal CourtThe International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
- Permanent Court of ArbitrationPermanent Court of ArbitrationThe Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.-History:The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution.The creation of...
- Permanent Court of International JusticePermanent Court of International JusticeThe Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
- World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement BodyWTO Dispute Settlement BodyThe Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization makes decisions on trade disputes between governments that are adjudicated by the Organization...
- International Tribunal for the Law of the SeaInternational Tribunal for the Law of the SeaThe International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on December 10, 1982...
Africa
- African Court of JusticeAfrican Court of JusticeThe African Court of Justice was originally intended to be the “principal judicial organ of the Union” with authority to rule on disputes over interpretation of AU treaties....
- African Court on Human and Peoples' RightsAfrican Court on Human and Peoples' RightsThe African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was a regional court that was created initially to make judgments on African Union states' compliance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights....
- Court of Justice of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
- Court of Justice of the Economic Community of Central African States
- Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States
- East African Court of JusticeEast African Court of JusticeThe East African Court of Justice is a treaty-based judicial body of the East African Community tasked to ensure adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the East African Treaty of 1999. The Court is made up of two divisions: a First Instance Division and an...
- Southern African Development Community TribunalSADC TribunalThe SADC Tribunal is a court and the highest policy institution of the Southern African Development Community . It is housed in the Turnhalle building in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Although established on paper since 1992, members of the Tribunal were only appointed during the SADC Summit in...
Americas
- Caribbean Court of JusticeCaribbean Court of JusticeThe Caribbean Court of Justice is the judicial institution of the Caribbean Community . Established in 2001, it is based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago....
- Central American Court of Justice
- Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
- Court of Justice of the Andean Community
- Eastern Caribbean Supreme CourtEastern Caribbean Supreme CourtThe Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court is a superior Court of record for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States , including six independent states: Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and three British...
- Inter-American Court of Human RightsInter-American Court of Human RightsThe Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
- Benelux Court of Justice
- Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent StatesEconomic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent StatesThe Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States operates for the purposes of fulfilling economic obligations under the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The mandate of the Economic Court includes the resolution of disputes arising during the implementation of...
- European Court of AuditorsEuropean Court of AuditorsThe Court of Auditors is the fifth institution of the European Union . It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg to audit the accounts of EU institutions...
- European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human RightsThe European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
- European Court of JusticeEuropean Court of JusticeThe Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
- European Commission of Human RightsEuropean Commission of Human RightsEuropean Commission of Human Rights was a special tribunal.From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Human Rights; they had to apply to the Commission, which if it found the case to be...
- European Free Trade Association Court
- European Nuclear Energy TribunalEuropean Nuclear Energy TribunalThe European Nuclear Energy Tribunal is an international tribunal, established 1 January 1960, that operates under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development...
- European Union Civil Service TribunalEuropean Union Civil Service TribunalThe European Union Civil Service Tribunal is a specialised tribunal within the Court of Justice of the European Union. It was established on 2 December 2005.-Legal basis:...
- Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and HerzegovinaHuman Rights Chamber for Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina , which was active between March 1996 and 31 December 2003, was a judicial body established in Bosnia and Herzegovina within the Annex 6 to the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina .-Structure:The Chamber had the mandate...
Ad hoc arbitration tribunals
- Beagle Channel Court of ArbitrationBeagle Channel ArbitrationOn 22 July 1971 Salvador Allende and Alejandro Lanusse, the Presidents of Chile and Argentina, signed an arbitration agreement . This agreement related to their dispute over the territorial and maritime boundaries between them, and in particular the title to the Picton, Nueva and Lennox islands...
- Iran-United States Claims TribunalIran-United States Claims TribunalThe Iran-United States Claims Tribunal is an international arbitral tribunal established out of an agreement between Iran and the United States, under an understanding known as the Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981. The Algiers Accords were the outcome of negotiations between Iran and the United...
Ad hoc criminal tribunals
- International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg; 1945−46)
- International Military Tribunal for the Far EastInternational Military Tribunal for the Far EastThe International Military Tribunal for the Far East , also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, or simply the Tribunal, was convened on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" crimes were reserved for those who...
(1946−1948) - International Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaThe International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
(ICTY; since 1993) - International Criminal Tribunal for RwandaInternational Criminal Tribunal for RwandaThe International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
(ICTR; since 1994) - International Residual Mechanism for Criminal TribunalsInternational Residual Mechanism for Criminal TribunalsThe International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals is a mechanism established by United Nations Security Council resolution 1966 to finish the work begun by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda . It will be subdivided...
(will gradually replace the ICTR and the ICTY beginning in 2012/2013) - Special Panels of the Dili District CourtSpecial Panels of the Dili District CourtThe Special Panels of the Dili District Court was the hybrid international–East Timorese tribunal that was created in 2000 by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor to try cases of "serious criminal offences" — including murder, rape, and torture — which took place in East...
(2000−2006) - Special Court for Sierra LeoneSpecial Court for Sierra LeoneThe Special Court for Sierra Leone is an independent judicial body set up to "try those who bear greatest responsibility" for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sierra Leone after 30 November 1996 during the Sierra Leone Civil War...
(since 2002) - Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of CambodiaExtraordinary Chambers in the Courts of CambodiaThe Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, commonly known as the "Khmer Rouge Tribunal", is a national court established pursuant to an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious violations of Cambodian...
(since 2003) - Special Tribunal for LebanonSpecial Tribunal for LebanonThe Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an international tribunal for the prosecution under Lebanese law of those responsible for the assassination of Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005. The tribunal also has jurisdiction over a series of other attacks in Lebanon if they are proven to be connected...
(since 2009)
External links
- Project on International Courts and Tribunals, which maintains a second website focused on Africa at http://www.aict-ctia.org/
- United Nations Rule of Law: Tribunals & Other Mechanisms, on the relationship between international courts and the rule of lawRule of lawThe rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
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