Reforming the International Court of Justice to Deal with State Responsibility for Conflict and Human Rights Violations

The world has experienced numerous armed conflicts and violations of human rights arising from conflicts. However, many millions of human rights abuses have occurred outside of conflict. These have been on the rise over the last fifteen years. This article enquires why the International Court of Justice (icj) has not played the role it could have over the last seventy-five years. This is done with reference to the use of force by the Russian Federation (Russia) in Ukraine in 2022. It is argued that when it comes to dealing with wars, conflict, and human rights violations, the Court has played a limited role and has been less than robust than it could have been. The article investigates the problems that undermine the Court, including the appointment process for judges, the use of ad hoc judges, jurisdictional limitations, and issues concerning compliance and enforcement of its judgments. The argument made is that politics and political considerations are deeply imbedded in these processes and that an independent structure is needed. It is also argued that while some of the problems of the Court are structural, others are of the Court’s own making.