An Examination of the Role of the International Court of Justice (I.C.J) in the Enforcement of Its Own Decisions

Abstract

One important issue which forms the basis of the existence and jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.) is that its decision ought to be binding and enforceable, but there are record of instances and cases where parties to a dispute before the ICJ refuse to obey or comply the court decisions leaving the Court with the dilemma or constraint on the enforcement of its decision to avoid bringing its integrity to question. In the bid to address this issue of the enforcement of ICJ decisions different mechanisms have been suggested as solution to resolving the issue. Therefore, this work examined the role of the International Court of Justice in the enforcement of its own decisions. This work further examines the participation of the I.C.J. in enforcing its decision and the inadequacies inherent in this process. Flowing from this discourse, recommendations were proffered.

Keywords: International Court of Justice, Decisions, Enforcement, Treaty, recalcitrant State, United Nations.