All eyes on UN's ICJ amid South Africa-Israel genocide hearing

South Africa accused Israel of the crime of genocide this week at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands. On the second day of hearings, Israel defended its operation in Gaza, maintaining that its offensive against Hamas that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians falls under self-defense.

The ICJ is not expected to rule on the genocide accusations for some time, but it is considering South Africa's request to order an immediate halt to Israel's military operations in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear on Saturday that any such ruling would not be complied with.

What is the ICJ?

The ICJ is the highest judicial body of the United Nations. It is located in The Hague, Netherlands, and is different from the International Criminal Court, also located there. 

The role of the ICJ is to settle disputes between its member states in accordance with international law.  It also provides legal advice to authorized UN agencies.

The ICJ has 15 justices, elected for nine year terms by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.Agents of any of the 193 UN member states can plead their cases before the Court. The ICJ will deliberate and deliver a verdict as quickly as a few weeks to several years.

The ICJ is a way for countries to resolve disputes without resorting to violence.

The current ICJ justices are from the U.S., Russia, China, Lebanon, Slovakia, France, Morocco, Somalia, Uganda, India, Jamaica, Japan, Germany, Australia and Brazil. The Court allows for a state that does not have a judge of its nationality already on the bench to select an ad hoc judge to sit in their case.

Israel appointed its former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak as ad hoc judge to join the panel in the January 2024 genocide hearing, and South Africa appointed former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke.

The rulings of the ICJ are final and cannot be appealed.  States are obligated to apply the ICJ rulings within their jurisdictions, and most honor ICJ rulings.

If a state refuses to follow an ICJ ruling, the only other step is to turn to the UN Security Council to vote on a resolution. The official languages of the ICJ are English and French. 

The International Court of Justice was established in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations. It is also known as the World Court.

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