The International Court of Justice’s President, HE Judge Nawaf Salam, addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on October 24, 2024, in the Hague.
In order to present the Court’s Annual Report for the judicial year 2023-2024, he addressed the UN General Assembly.
President Salam began his speech by thanking the General Assembly for its interest in the Court’s work.
He stated that “the Court’s docket has remained full, reflecting the international community’s trust in the principal judicial organ of the United Nations” throughout the reporting period.
President Salam explained that the Court is currently hearing 23 cases, five of which were filed during the reporting year. These cases include four contentious cases and a request for an advisory opinion from the International Labor Organization.
The President informed the Assembly that the Court had held 12 sets of hearings in ten cases since August 1, 2023, the beginning of the time period covered by the Annual Report.
It had also issued two judgments, one advisory opinion, eight orders regarding requests for the indication or modification of provisional measures, and one order regarding the admissibility of declarations of intervention.
In addition, the Court had issued a number of orders imposing deadlines in a variety of cases. After that, he went over the judgments, advisory opinions, and substantive orders that the Court had issued during the time under review.
He pointed to the rise in requests for provisional measures and said that such requests “should not be used as a litigation tactic to advance arguments on the merits.”
He also talked about the three cases that are being considered right now. Following that, President Salam made the announcement that the Court had recently adopted a number of changes to the Rules of Court, particularly those pertaining to interventions in contentious cases.
He explained that these amendments are intended to make the Court’s organization of such cases more streamlined and effective while also providing states seeking to intervene with greater procedural clarity.
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The Trust Fund for the Court’s Judicial Fellowship Program, which was established in 2021 at the request of the General Assembly, was also discussed by the President.
He informed the Assembly that four of the fifteen Judicial Fellows of the 2024-2025 cohort were recipients of a stipend through the fund.
He noted that
“the continued success of the Trust Fund initiative wholly relies on the continued generosity of donors, be they States, international financial institutions, donor agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, or natural and juridical persons”.
Finally, President Salam updated the General Assembly on the asbestos-related situation at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, where it sits.
He stated that the institution’s financial resources had been put under strain as a result of the ongoing increase in workload.
He said, situation is no longer sustainable”, underscoring that the approval of the Court’s 2025 budgetary request is essential to the continued fulfilment of its mission.
