On 26^th October 2011, the President of the International Court of Justice, H.E. Judge Hisashi Owadamade an announcement in the General Assembly stating that the best efforts are being made by the Court to respond to the high expectations of the international community for an expeditious handling of the cases referred to the International Court of Justice.
He also said that with the increase in the number of cases in the docket, the court is now opining on more than a few cases on a parallel basis.

In his address to the General Assembly, President Owada gave an overview of the judicial activities that were taken up by the Court in last 12 months. In his statement he said that over last 12 months, the Court has rendered multiple decisions in cases which “have involved States from all regions of the world, and have raised a broad range of legal questions”. The President also pointed out that “in his 3 years of presidency, the number of cases in the docket was never less than 15. In fact the average number of cases in the docket has been around 28.

He went on to say that the areas on which the Court was asked to rule was broader in scope than ever before.Furthermore, cases are frequently made up of different incidental phases, from preliminary objections to provisional measures, to requests for intervention and interpretation.

In conclusion he said that The International Court of Justice, as guardian of international law, is proud to play a vital role in our increasingly globalized world” and “It is my hope that Member States will continue to rely on the International Court of Justice to assist them in the pacific settlement of their disputes and that more States will accept the Court’s jurisdiction, be that through a declaration under Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute, or through the signature of the many multilateral treaties which now contain co promissory clauses that refer disputes as to the interpretation or application of those treaties to the Court.

President of the International Court of Justice

Legal news report by Adhir Roy Chowdury