Sałkiewicz-Munnerlyn, Ewa: Jurisprudence of the PCIJ and the ICJ on Interim Measures of Protection
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Perhaps no event at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has a greater capacity to capture global attention than a hearing on a request for the indication of provisional measures.The stakes are usually high, with life and death sometimes in the balance. 1 One need only consider Ukraine's recent request for provisional measures in its dispute with Russia under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide -a request that Ukraine lodged within days of the invasion of its territory by Russia.Less than a month later, the Court directed Russia to 'immediately suspend the military operations' commenced on Ukraine's territory on 24 February 2022. 2 Another spectacle took place in December 2019, when Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, then the State Counsellor of Myanmar, appeared before the Court to defend her country against The Gambia's request for provisional measures aimed at preventing violence against the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group.A month later, the Court unanimously directed Myanmar to 'take all measures within its power' to prevent the commission of genocidal acts against the Rohingya group in its territory.3 In both cases, the applicants persuaded the Court to indicate provisional measures while also leveraging the proceedings to focus the world's attention upon their claims.At the outset of legal disputes that may take years to resolve, provisional measures requests create unique opportunities for applicants to frame those disputes for a global audience and to rally public opinion to their cause.4 The indication of provisional measures may also persuade third states to apply pressure upon the state accused of malfeasance.The wheels of justice at the ICJ turn slowly, but provisional measures requests take priority on the Court's schedule and the relief obtained -if a request succeeds -comes within weeks, not years.In short, the sheer possibility of seeking provisional measures may be a crucial factor in deciding whether to bring a dispute to the ICJ in the first place.The prospect of imposing immediate costs upon an adversary may outweigh the risk of non-compliance or even be more important than the relief sought on the
Author: Michael A. Becker
Language: German
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4292063996