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‘Killing Three Birds with One Stone’? The Preliminary Objections Judgments of the International Court of Justice in the Legality of Use of Force Cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2005

SIMON OLLESON
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Abstract

The ICJ in its judgments on the preliminary objections in the Legality of Use of Force cases held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the claims. Despite the unanimous concurrence in that result, it is clear that there were deep divisions within the Court as to the ground on which that decision should have been reached; only a bare majority subscribed to the reasoning that the Court was required to rule on the question of its jurisdiction ratione personae in relation to Serbia and Montenegro's uncertain status within the United Nations prior to 2000. The minority judges were highly critical of the choice of that basis of decision, in particular given its apparent implications for other cases pending before the Court.

Keywords

Article 35(2) of the Statutechoice among grounds for decisioninherent jurisdictionInternational Court of Justicejudicial functionjurisdiction ratione personaepreliminary objections
Type
HAGUE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS: International Court of Justice
Information
Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 237 - 255
Copyright
© 2005 Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law

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Footnotes

Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Belgium), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Canada), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. France), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Germany), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Italy), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Netherlands), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Portugal), Preliminary Objections; Legality of Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. United Kingdom), Preliminary Objections; Judgments of 15 December 2004, available at http://www.icj-cij.org.