State Consent Principle Of Advisory Jurisdiction Of The International Court Of Justice

Advisory jurisdiction is one of the two basic functions of the International Court of Justice.The purpose of advisory jurisdiction is to provide authoritative answers,clarifications and cl ear-ups to legal questions raised by competent international organizations in order to enable them to act in accordance with the law.For example,in the case between the World Health Organization and Egypt on the interpretation of the agreement of March 25,1951,the World Health Organization accepted the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the conditions and methods of the removal of the World Health Organization regional headquarters from Egypt,and conducted consultations with Egypt according to the provisions set out in the 1951 agreementUnlike Contentious jurisdiction,in theory and practice,the application of the principle of state consent in advisory jurisdiction has not been established yet,but it is necessary and important to restrict the exercise of advisory jurisdiction of the Court.First,the principle of state consent is the development and extension of the principle of equality of state sovereignty.The advisory matters of the International Court of Justice are often involved the fundamental interests of the states concerned,and the Court,as the most authoritative judiciary institution in the international community,should attach great importance to the principle of state consent to ensure the inviolability of state sovereignty.Second,the practices of the International Court of Justice have set a basis for applying the principle of state consent.In several advisory opinions,the Court has indicated that the principle of state consent does not affect its advisory jurisdiction,but as a factor limits its discretion whether the advisory function should be exercised.Third,due to the relatively relaxed procedures for the institutions' application for advisory jurisdiction,and the prerequisites for the advisory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice relatively easy to satisfy,with the increase of relevant disputes,worries of the international community that some countries conduct litigation in the name of advisory jurisdiction are growing.Last,the advisory opinion has judicial authority to adjust state conducts and has a significant impact on the involved states and international judiciaryThe International Court of Justice can,in exercising advisory jurisdiction,apply the principle of state consent according to the circumstances of different cases.The Court shall distinguish between "disputes" and "questions" based on whether the matters are involved in actual disputes,and then distinguish "disputes" according to whether the advisory opinion will have the effect of circumventing the principle that "without the consent of the state,the dispute shall not be forced to be referred to judicial settlement"For a matter which has been classified under the above steps that the Court should refuse to exercise its advisory jurisdiction,the Court should also decide whether there is any exception that the dispute has risen to the international levelIn the case of Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965,because the case involved a bilateral territorial dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius,after determining that the court has jurisdiction,the court should consider the principle of state consent on whether such jurisdiction should be exercised.Due to the obvious bilateral nature,if the court makes an advisory opinion,it would essentially have the effect of circumventing the principle that "without the consent of the state,the dispute shall not be forced to be referred to judicial settlement",the court should refuse to exercise jurisdiction.Besides,the dispute has not risen to the international level significantly,so there are no exceptions for the court to make advisory opinions.The foregoing method of applying the principle of state consent is reasonable and feasible in the case of Chagos ArchipelagoThe Court should deal with the state consent issue in exercising its advisory jurisdiction with caution in order to uphold and preserve its judicial character.According to the international situation,we may also face the advisory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.Therefore,we should strengthen the study and research on the advisory jurisdiction and insist on the application of the principle of state consent,to promote the settlement of relevant disputes and defend our state interests.