The International Court Of Justice Reform, Research Procedures And Work Method

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) made great contributions to the progress ofpeaceful settlement of international disputes. As international relations gettingcomplicated, the number of international disputes is growing. More and morecountries submit disputes to ICJ, but current procedures and work methods of ICJ canno longer adapt itself to the needs in the new era. Every year there are a great numberof pending cases in the court because its low judicial efficiency. Countries show lessconfidence in the court, thus urgent reform is in need.At the same time, some international or regional courts established, such asInternational Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, International Criminal court, EuropeanCourts of Human Rights, which challenge the authority of the International Court ofJustice. Moreover, at the60th anniversary of the United Nations, world leaders callfor efforts in reforms of the United Nations. As one of the six major organs of theUnited Nations, the International Court of Justice must be influenced and is deemed tofollow the reforms. Under this circumstance, the voice of revise is getting louder.Reforms of ICJ are done through modifications of the “Statute of the Court”,“Rules of court”, issuing and amending the “Practice Directions”. Because of theStatute is part of the Charter of The United Nations, amendments to the Statute shallbe affected by the same procedure as is provided by the Charter of the United Nationsfor amendments, thus making the amending extremely difficult, so do not revise thestatute is the orientation of the reform. The reforming practices of the ICJ include4times revise of the Rules, issuing13articles of “Practices Directions” and adoptingthe amendments of articles3and6. The reform of ICJ is beneficial to strengthen theposition, enhance the function of the ICJ.For historical reasons, China has held cautious attitude to ICJ, and till now Chinahas not submit any disputes to ICJ. As the ongoing review of its procedures andworking methods, more developing countries turn to ICJ to solve internationaldisputes. Consequently, China should change the traditional attitudes and activelyparticipate in the reform of ICJ. The author analyses the related cases of ICJ, pointsout the existing problems about procedures and work methods of the ICJ, discussesthe possibility of further reform and specific measures on the basis of measures hasbeen implemented.