| III. | The International Court of Justice |
| 4. | JUDGMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |
| 4.2. | Res judicata / Effects of Judgments |
¤
Military and Paramilitary Activities
(Nicaragua/United States of America)
Merits. J. 27.6.1986
I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 14
[pp. 174 S.O. Ruda] I fully agree with the statement of the Court in
paragraph 27 that a State party to proceedings before the Court may decide not
to participate in them. But I do not think that the Court should pass over in
silence a statement whereby a State reserves its rights in respect of a future
decision of the Court.
Article 94, paragraph I, of the United Nations Charter says in a clear and
simple way: "Each Member of the United Nations undertakes to comply with
the decision of the International Court of Justice in any case to which it is a
party."
No reservation made by a State, at any stage of the proceedings, could
derogate from this solemn obligation, freely entered into, which is, moreover,
the cornerstone of the system, centred upon the Court, for the judicial
settlement of international disputes. The United States, like any other party to
the Statute, is bound by the decisions taken by the Court and there is no right
to be reserved but the right to have them complied with by such other parties as
they may bind.
[p. 198 S.O. Sette-Camara] We should abide by the categoric
provision of Article 59 of the Statute, which confines the binding force of the
res judicata to the parties in the case, and consequently bear in mind the fact
that the expansion of the effects of the Judgment, so as to affect a third
party, constitutes a departure from the general rule, and, like any exception,
must therefore be founded in indisputable evidence.
