Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy
Abstract
The growth of the docket of the International Court of Justice over the last several decades has been both a sign of its success and a source of its troubles. Because the Court's continued attractiveness as a forum for dispute settlement depends not only on the quality of its judgments, but also on the efficiency of its procedures, the Court has responded by attempting to modernize its working methods. Literature concerning the weaknesses of the Court's procedures, however, has not focused on how oral proceedings suffer from an absence of direct exchanges between the judges and counsel. The judges' hesitancy to posit questions stems in part from a long-standing institutional concern about respecting the sovereign status of the parties which appear before it. This Article argues that the Court should shed its anxiety about questioning parties because doing so would not only pose little threat to State sovereignty, but would actually heighten the attractiveness of the Court as a forum for the adjudication of international disputes.
Recommended Citation
Rose, Cecily
(2008)
"Questioning the Silence of the Bench: Reflections on Oral Proceedings at the International Court of Justice,"
Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy: Vol. 18:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://ir.law.fsu.edu/jtlp/vol18/iss1/2