With China passing its "Anti-Secession" Law on March 14, and the recent dispute with Japan over the Diaoyutais (釣魚台), some people are suggesting we broach our situation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). So what exactly does the court do?
The ICJ is actually one of the six major organs of the UN, the other five being the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat. The court itself is the UN's primary judicial organ, mandated to ensure the peaceful solution of international disputes. It plays a vital role in the UN's collective security organization.
It is the highest international court, but as it is located in the Hague in the Netherlands, and not in New York, where the UN's headquarters can be found, it has often been mistakenly believed to operate independently of the UN.
The court has 15 judges of different nationalities, elected in separate sittings by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The judges, in addition to having the necessary moral atttributes, must also have the qualifications required in their own countries for the highest judicial offices, or be of recognized competence in international law. The court should also reflect the traditions and principal legal systems of the world.
The judges have a tenure of nine years, with re-elections for a third of these held every three years. It is possible for a judge to be elected for subsequent terms. During their service in the ICJ, they are given diplomatic privileges, including immunity.
The court has dual functions.
The first is in deciding on court cases brought before it. Only nations can act as plaintiff, and they can only bring cases against other nations. Any organization other than a nation, any group or individual cannot bring a case before the court. Also, the jurisdiction of the court must be either expressly or tacitly recognized by the defendant nation in controversial cases.
All member states of the UN qualify to act as plaintiffs. Non-member states, and this includes Taiwan, can be made a special case, but this is contingent on the recommendation of the UN General Assembly, having gone by the Security Council. These decisions are made on a individual basis.
The second function the court performs is advisory. The UN General Assembly and Security Council may seek the opinion of the international court for any legal questions that arise. Any legal queries concerning the specific areas of other UN organs, or other specialist bodies, can also be referred to the court, having secured the approval of the General Assembly. Such referrals must be presented clearly.
Should Taiwan decide to take any case to the ICJ, or seek a consultation on any issue, it will face one procedural obstacle after another. First, it will have to get past the General Assembly and the Security Council, and China is sure to put up barriers from within against such an action.
Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the New Century Foundation and professor of law at the New York Law School.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers