This book updates, supplements and complements Patel’s (Director, Gujarat National Law University) previous work, The World Court Reference Guide: Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders of the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court of Justice (1922-2000) (Patel, 2002). Like its predecessor, it is a comprehensive compilation of advisory opinions, orders and cases adjudicated by the International Court of Justice.
Meticulously researched and painstakingly assembled, it is replete with documentation, making it a convenient authoritative one-volume reference tool. The exhaustive treatment is aimed principally at experienced international legal practitioners and scholars, who will relish its thoroughness.
The preponderance of the text is devoted to a digest of specific contentious cases brought before the Court, providing every detail from their inception to final disposition. The Court’s non-binding advisory opinions are similarly handled. An example is the entry on Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, one of the more celebrated cases. The 15-page summary contains a surfeit of information ranging from the official citation, to the Court’s composition, voting record of the judges, sources of law invoked and excerpts from the decision. The documentation is punctilious, with no detail overlooked.
A section in tabular form on Analysis and Trend Patterns charts the duration of cases and advisory opinions, countries involved as applicants or respondents, a list of countries submitting written or oral statements and the declarations and opinions of judges. The balance is devoted to the Court’s consideration of substantive matters of public international law and procedural issues. Thematic indices to references by the Court to the Covenant of the League of Nations, Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice (the Court’s predecessor), UN Charter, ICJ Statute, Rules of the Court, ICJ Cases and Advisory Opinions and Treaties round out the massive volume.
Ironically, the book’s richness belies its usefulness by limiting its appeal to a highly specialized select audience of scholars and international lawyers. This is not a book for the neophyte. Those who do not have a firm understanding of the Court and its operations may well find it overwhelming. This is a work to be consulted, not read, and assumes a well-versed audience. Accordingly, it is recommended for law school libraries with strong programs in public international law.
