Analysis of the Independence of Judges of the International Court of Justice
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Abstract
The author analyzes the position of judges of the International Court of Justice. At the beginning, he points out the importance of independence for the protection of the rights of subjects in the proceedings, and then moves on to formal legal guarantees of the independence of the judges of this court. The interpretation of the norms related to the independence of the judiciary is presented, and in particular the impossibility of equal representation of judges from different countries is highlighted, given that the permanent members of the Security Council always have a judge of this court. It has been noted that some important member states of the United Nations have never had a judge of this court in their history. Several examples from the Court's practice were presented that directly or indirectly concern the independence of judges. It was pointed out that it is necessary to change the procedure for the selection of judges in order to reduce the political influence, first of all of the Security Council, during the election, which has an effect later on during the work of the judges. The statistics related to the voting of judges with regard to citizenship or taking into account the membership of countries in some important inter- national organizations were pointed out. Special attention is paid to mechanisms that ensure independence in terms of control and review of their independence. At the end, concrete proposals were made to improve the independence of the judges of the International Court of Justice.
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References
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