9781422285473

International Court of Justice Shortly after its founding, the United Nations established the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—sometimes called the World Court. The ICJ is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, and its main job is to settle legal disputes between nations, as well as to offer nonbinding legal opinions to international organizations that request them. The UN’s participation in international law is primarily through the ICJ, although the Security Council is actively involved in conflict resolution. The ICJ meets at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands. The court is composed of fifteen judges, each from a different country. These judges are elected by the UN General Assembly and Security Council and serve for nine years, after which they may be reelected. Every three years, one-third of the judges are eligible for reelection.

Russia’s 1959 gift to the United Nations, a sculpture titled Let Us Beat Swords into Ploughshares by Yevgeny Vuchetich refers to a verse in the Hebrew scriptures expressing the UN’s mission to maintain world peace.

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Chapter One