Giudicare il genocidio: il ruolo della Corte Internezionale di Giustizia

First, I want to clarify that the ICJ is the main judicial body of the United Nations, but it decides disputes between States "only" with the consent of the parties involved. This makes the ICJ similar to an “arbitration body,” although it has a permanent nature and acts based on mandatory procedural rules, which also provide for the possibility for third States to intervene in the process. Therefore, the ICJ has structural characteristics that identify it as an arbitration body between States but also performs a judicial function, which has led it to detach itself from the typical principles of arbitration between states. Like an arbitrator, the Court is called upon to resolve individual disputes, ensuring the proper conduct of the trial and applying international law. Furthermore, even when the ICJ exercises its judicial function, it can sometimes perform functions that are not strictly judicial or express positions on the profiles of a dispute, with respect to which it has no jurisdiction. This approach also influences the aspects of the trial, for which the parallels with arbitration are more evident, and it expresses with particular clarity in the freedom, with which the Court influences the determination of the subject of the dispute (which in arbitration is an attribution of the parties). The development of the properly judicial function of the Court and its role in the maintenance of international peace and security has led to a different construction of this institution. I find these mechanisms of recourse to international jurisdiction very interesting, even if often these mechanisms have the criticality of not being immediate or even effective. Despite this, I believe it necessary to recognize and have recourse to a superior supranational authority, to guarantee respect for fundamental human rights, in the context of the complicated relations between individual States and the international community. Over the years, international law, and the jurisdictional instruments, which are part of it, have proved to be very important in guaranteeing the protection of human rights, where little or almost nothing can be done at national level. This is the case in Myanmar where, in the silence (or perhaps even consent) of the government authorities, genocidal actions have been perpetrated against the Rohingya. ​