The Function of the International Court of Justice in the World Community

Let me say at the outset that I am going to be a "cold" lawyer on this subject, that is to say I am going to try to put before you very briefly the main points of departure, the essential facts as I see them in relation to the Court.This will then give more opportunity for Mr. Fawcett and Mr. Gross to follow with comments of assessment or criticism.I would like to say immediately that I do not regard the Court as a panacea.Every time a United Kingdom speaker opens his mouth to mention the settlement of international disputes, it always seems to be assumed that one is going "for the Court, the whole Court and nothing but the Court."This is certainly not the view I take.There are many other instruments for the promotion of international relations and for the settlement of international disputes.I need only refer in that context to what is said in article 33 of the Charter itself.In spite of the shortness of time, let me just put the present Court a little into its historical context.The history of the development of the International Court really began with the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, when it was felt that the world had had too much of the assertion of policies by the use of force and that states should seek the settlement of their disputes by means of arbitration, which would have a largely judicial character.It was recognized that arbitration could be a procedure which was more or less ex aequo et bono or could be carried out judicially.I think it is fair to say that some of the creators of the Permanent Court were over-optimistic about the possibility of solving questions of war and peace in that way, and this is a lesson that we should have learned by now.Nevertheless, since the establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration down to the present time, there has been a more or less steady flow of litigation, first before tribunals established under the Permanen't Court of Arbitration, then before the Permanent Court of International Justice, and since the establishment of the United Nations, before the International Court of Justice.The cases have had both legal and political significance, and I make no apology for mentioning "political" and "legal" aspects.I worked for nearly a quarter of a century in the For-