“To Fall, or Not to Fall, That Is the (Preliminary) Question”: Disputes, Compromissory Clauses and Swinging Jurisdictional Tests at the ICJ

Abstract

More and more frequently, states resort to the ICJ, claiming the violation of international treaties and attempting to ground the jurisdiction of the Court on compromissory clauses contained therein. Despite the growing number of such cases, an analysis of recently rendered judgments on preliminary objections demonstrates that until now the Court has been unable or unwilling to identify and apply a coherent jurisdictional test to assess its jurisdiction ratione materiae. Some suggestions are formulated as for the test that the Court should apply to determine whether the claims presented by the applicant genuinely fall within the provisions of the international treaty containing the compromissory clause vel non.