International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established by the UN Charter in June 1945 and in operation since April 1946, seated at the Peace Palace in The Hague. It has two functions: settling legal disputes that states submit to it and giving advisory opinions on questions referred by UN organs and agencies. It has 15 judges elected to nine-year terms; Judge Iwasawa Yuji of Japan was elected President on 3 March 2025 for a term ending 5 February 2027. In South Africa v. Israel under the Genocide Convention, the Court issued provisional-measures orders on 26 January, 28 March and 24 May 2024; the Rafah order passed 13 votes to 2. South Africa filed its Memorial on 28 October 2024, and the Court extended Israel's Counter-Memorial deadline several times, with Israel filing on 12 March 2026. In The Gambia v. Myanmar, the Court held on 22 July 2022 that it has jurisdiction and rejected Myanmar's preliminary objections; its January 2020 order requires Myanmar to report on compliance every six months.