| III. | The International Court of Justice |
| 2. | THE JURISDICTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |
| 2.1. | General Rules |
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Military and Paramilitary Activities
(Nicaragua/United States of America)
Merits. J. 27.6.1986
I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14
[pp. 23-24] The fact that a State purports to "reserve its
rights" in respect of a future decision of the Court, after the Court has
determined that it has jurisdiction, is clearly of no effect on the validity of
that decision. Under Article 36, paragraph 6, of its Statute, the Court has
jurisdiction to determine any dispute as to its own jurisdiction, and its
judgment on that matter, as on the merits, is final and binding on the parties
under Articles 59 and 60 of the Statute (cf. Corfu Channel, Judgment of 15
December 1949, I.C.J. Reports 1949, p. 248).
[p. 28] The Court notes that since the institution of the present
proceedings, both bases of jurisdiction have been terminated. On 1 May 1985 the
United States gave written notice to the Government of Nicaragua to terminate
the Treaty, in accordance with Article XXV, paragraph 3, thereof; that notice
expired, and thus terminated the treaty relationship, on 1 May 1986. On 7
October 1985 the United States deposited with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations a notice terminating the declaration under the optional clause,
in accordance with the terms of that declaration, and that notice expired on 7
April 1986. These circumstances do not however affect the jurisdiction of the
Court under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute, or its jurisdiction under
Article XXIV, paragraph 2, of the Treaty to determine "any dispute between
the Parties as to the interpretation or application" of the Treaty.
[pp. 176-177 S.O. Ruda] Once the Court has established its
competence, a judge is bound to decide on the merits of the case, even if he was
in the minority on the question of jurisdiction. Otherwise, in the event that a
judge had voted against both sources of
jurisdiction, as has happened in this case, that judge would have no
standing for participating in the merits stage, which would be an absurd
proposition.
