HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE RECENT JURISPRUDENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Autores

  • Indre Isokaite

Palavras-chave:

Human rights, nuclear weapons, International Court of Justice, peoples’ right to self-determination, consular notification and access, Marshall Islands cases, Jadhav case, Chagos Archipelago case

Resumo

The Article aims at human rights issues in the cases heard (judgments and advisory opinions delivered) by the International Court of Justice (“ICJ” or “the Court”) within the past five years. The author analyses the newest jurisprudence of the ICJ thereby revealing the development of human rights and providing some general insight into the role of the ICJ and the importance of the Court’s jurisprudence in the field. Despite the jurisdiction of the ICJ (neither specifically designed for or limited to human rights issues, nor allowing individual complains), the Court’s impact on the protection of human rights and the development of international human rights law is uncontested. Among the judgments and advisory opinions announced within the period 2016-2020 the author distinguishes the following cases related with human rights: the Marshall Islands cases (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom, Marshall Islands v. India, Marshall Islands v. Pakistan), the Jadhav case (India v. Pakistan) and the Chagos Archipelago case (advisory proceedings).

Accordingly, the research focuses on the issues of nuclear weapons and human rights, the right to consular notification and access and the peoples’ right to self-determination. The research reveals that the Marshall Islands cases, on the one hand, have precluded a more elaborate clarification on the issues of complete nuclear disarmament as they ended without the decision on the merits; on the other hand, these cases have reminded of the legal uncertainties in the face of remaining threat of nuclear weapons and contributed to the movement on nuclear disarmament, which witnessed the adoption of a treaty on complete prohibition of nuclear weapons in 2017. Nuclear weapons not only have catastrophic consequences on environment and humanity, but also violates human rights (particular individual rights, e.g. the right to life) and is a breach of international human rights law. The Jadhav case contributed to the interpretation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Article 36): the right of consular notification and access shall not be limited even in cases of the charges of espionage. In the Chagos Archipelago case (advisory opinion), the ICJ has reminded of the importance of the right of peoples to self- determination and inter alia confirmed the customary nature of this right (principle).

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Publicado

2022-10-08

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