The ICJ statute is a document that establishes the International Court of Justice as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was annexed to the UN Charter and came into force on 24 October 1945. The ICJ statute has 70 articles that cover the organization, competence, procedure and amendment of the Court.
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One of the articles of the ICJ statute is Article 5, which deals with the nomination of persons for election as Members of the Court. According to Article 5, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall invite the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, or those appointed by non-member States, to nominate persons who are qualified to be judges of the Court.
Each national group may nominate up to four persons, not more than two of whom shall be of their own nationality. The nominations shall be made within a given time limit before the date of the election.
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To cite the ICJ statute, one should follow the rules of citation for international treaties. According to OSCOLA (Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities), a widely used guide for citing legal sources, the citation for the ICJ statute should include:
– The title of the treaty in italics
– The date of adoption or opening for signature
– The treaty series where it is published
– The page number where it starts
For example:
Statute of the International Court of Justice, 18 April 1946, TS No 67 (1946)
The TS No 67 (1946) refers to the United States Treaty Series, where the ICJ statute was published. Alternatively, one can use USTS No 993, which is another number for the same treaty series. However, one should not use 33 UNTS 993, which is a common but incorrect reference that points to a different treaty series (the United Nations Treaty Series) where the ICJ statute is not published.
To cite a specific article of the ICJ statute, one should add the article number after a comma. For example:
Statute of the International Court of Justice, 18 April 1946, TS No 67 (1946), art 5
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