International court

The International Criminal Court in The Hague

International courts are formed by treaties between nations or under the authority of an international organization such as the United Nations and include ad hoc tribunals and permanent institutions but exclude any courts arising purely under national authority.

Criminal and civil matters

Early examples of international courts include the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals established in the aftermath of World War II. Three such courts are presently located at The Hague in the Netherlands: the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Further international courts exist elsewhere, usually with their jurisdiction restricted to a particular country or issue, such as the one dealing with the genocide in Rwanda. In addition to international tribunals created to address crimes committed during genocides and civil war, ad hoc courts combining international and domestic strategies have also been established on a situational basis. Examples of these “hybrid tribunals” are found in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, East Timor, and Cambodia.

International Courts are permanent tribunals judging by International laws and treaties, also when these norms are on civil and commercial matters.^[1] International courts should be distinguished from international arbitration forums.

Privileges and immunities

Judges and high-level staff of such courts may be afforded diplomatic immunity if their governing authority allows.

List of international courts

The International Court of Justice

Defendants in the dock at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg

Name	Scope	Years active	Subject matter
International Court of Justice	Global	1945–present	General disputes
International Criminal Court	Global	2002–present	Criminal prosecutions
Permanent Court of International Justice	Global	1922–1946	General disputes
Appellate Body	Global	1995–present	Trade disputes within the WTO
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea	Global	1994–present	Maritime disputes
African Court of Justice	Africa	2009–present	Interpretation of AU treaties
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights	Africa	2006–present	Human rights
COMESA Court of Justice	Africa	1998–present	Trade disputes within COMESA
ECOWAS Community Court of Justice	Africa	1996–present	Interpretation of ECOWAS treaties
East African Court of Justice	Africa	2001–present	Interpretation of EAC treaties
SADC Tribunal	Africa	2005–2012	Interpretation of SADC treaties
Caribbean Court of Justice	Caribbean	2005–present	General disputes
Court of Justice of the Andean Community	South America	1983–present	Trade disputes within CAN
Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court	Caribbean	1967–present	General disputes
Inter-American Court of Human Rights	Americas	1979–present	Human rights
Benelux Court of Justice	Benelux	1975–present	Trade disputes within Benelux
Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States	Former USSR	1994–present	Economic disputes and interpretation of treaties within the CIS
European Court of Human Rights	Europe	1959–present	Human rights
European Court of Justice	Europe	1952–present	Interpretation of EU law
European Court of Auditors	Europe	1977–present	Audits EU Institutions
European Free Trade Association Court	Europe	1994–present	Interpretation of EFTA law
European Nuclear Energy Tribunal	Europe	1960–present	Nuclear energy disputes
European Union Civil Service Tribunal	Europe	2005–present	Civil disputes
International Military Tribunal	Europe	1945–1946	Criminal prosecutions
International Military Tribunal for the Far East	Pacific	1946−1948	Criminal prosecutions
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia	Former Yugoslavia	1993−present	Criminal prosecutions
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda	Rwanda	1994−present	Criminal prosecutions
Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals	Global	2012−present	Criminal prosecutions
Special Court for Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	2002−present	Criminal prosecutions
Special Tribunal for Lebanon	Lebanon	2009−present	Criminal prosecutions

List of hybrid tribunals

Name	Scope	Years active	Subject matter
Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal[2]	Chad	2013–present	Criminal prosecutions
Khmer Rouge Tribunal	Cambodia	2006–present	Criminal prosecutions
Special Court for Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone	2002–present	Criminal prosecutions
Special Panels of the Dili District Court	East Timor	2000-2006	Criminal prosecutions
Special Tribunal for Lebanon	Lebanon	2009−present	Criminal prosecutions

Lectures

• Lecture by Yuval Shany entitled Assessing the Effectiveness of International Courts: A Goal-based Approach in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• Lecture by Sir Elihu Lauterpacht entitled The Role of the International Judge in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• Lecture by Kenneth Keith entitled Aspects of the Judicial Process in National and International Courts and Tribunals in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• Lecture by Mark Weston Janis entitled Protestants, Progress and Peace: the 19th Century Movement for an International Court and Congress: Early Drafts of Today's International Court and the United Nations in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

References

1. There are questions about virtual contradictions from overlapping between the international courts and between them and the Italian Courts: Buonomo, Giampiero (2011). "Diritti umani: in Europa l'Italia è una voce fuori dal coro". Golem informazione.  – via Questia (subscription required)
2. "Statute of the Extraordinary African Chambers". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 3 November 2014.

External links

• Project on International Courts and Tribunals, which maintains a second website focused on Africa at
• United Nations Rule of Law: Tribunals & Other Mechanisms, on the relationship between international courts and the rule of law.