International Court of Justice

What International Court of Justice does

The International Court of Justice (ICJ, formally Cour internationale de Justice) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, established in 1946 and seated at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its mandate is twofold: adjudicating legal disputes between sovereign states that consent to its jurisdiction and issuing advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN organs and authorized specialized agencies. The court comprises 15 judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, supported by a registry and supporting staff in the range of 51–100 employees. Proceedings operate in six official languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese), with judgments, advisory opinions, orders, and press releases published on the court's official website.

The ICJ does not operate as a commercial enterprise and does not charge fees for its services. Funding flows from the regular budget of the United Nations, with member states contributing on an assessed scale that covers judges' salaries, operational costs, and administrative expenses. Access to the court is gated: states must consent to its jurisdiction (via special agreement, treaty compromissory clauses, or the optional clause), while advisory opinions are requested exclusively by the UN General Assembly, Security Council, and certain specialized agencies. Distribution of outputs occurs through formal intergovernmental channels rather than commercial channels; the website functions as the primary public-facing repository of jurisprudence.

The court's docket has expanded materially in recent years. Active and recent matters include the Guyana v. Venezuela dispute over the 160,000 sq km Esequibo region, the Gambia v. Myanmar Rohingya genocide case (the first genocide case heard on the merits in over a decade), Israel-related proceedings concerning Gaza, the July 2025 advisory opinion on state climate obligations, and the May 2026 advisory opinion affirming workers' right to strike under ILO Convention No. 87. The institution marked its 80th anniversary in 2026, with the UN Secretary-General warning of threats to international law. Leadership changes include the departure of former President Nawaf Salam to become Lebanon's Prime Minister in February 2025.

Name

International Court of Justice

Legal name

International Court of Justice

Website

https://icj-cij.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, seated at the Peace Palace in The Hague. It adjudicates legal disputes between consenting sovereign states and issues advisory opinions on questions referred by UN organs and specialized agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

The Hague

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. UN Budget Funding: The ICJ is funded through the regular budget of the United Nations. Member states contribute to the UN budget based on an assessed scale of contributions, which covers the Court's operational costs, judges' salaries, and administrative expenses.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, seated at the Peace Palace in The Hague. It settles legal disputes between sovereign states that submit cases to it and issues advisory opinions on legal questions referred by authorized UN organs and specialized agencies. Its decisions in contentious cases between consenting states are legally binding, while its advisory opinions carry significant moral and political weight in shaping the interpretation of international law.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Advisory Opinions Authoritative legal interpretations issued by the ICJ in response to legal questions referred by UN organs (General Assembly, Security Council) and specialized agencies (e.g., ILO). Advisory opinions are not legally binding but carry significant moral and political weight and shape the interpretation and development of international law. Recent opinions include the 2026 ILO request ruling that workers' right to strike is protected under the 1948 Freedom of Association Convention and the climate obligations opinion requested by the UN General Assembly.
• Binding Inter-State Dispute Adjudication Legally binding adjudication of legal disputes between sovereign states that consent to the ICJ's jurisdiction, whether through special agreement, compromissory clauses in treaties, or optional-clause declarations under Article 36(2) of the Statute. Cases proceed through written pleadings, oral proceedings, and issuance of judgments that are binding on the parties. Recent high-profile cases include Guyana v. Venezuela (Esequibo border dispute over 160,000 sq km), Gambia v. Myanmar (Rohingya genocide), and South Africa v. Israel (Gaza).
• Interim Measures and Provisional Orders Urgent provisional measures ordered by the ICJ to preserve the rights of parties pending the final judgment, used in active cases involving allegations of genocide, ongoing armed conflict, and humanitarian crises (e.g., the Israel-Gaza ruling requiring Israel to lift restrictions and ensure aid flows into Gaza).

Quantifiable outcome

• The 14-judge panel's advisory opinion on workers' right to strike carries significant weight and could have worldwide impact on labor regulations and international trade agreements across 158 countries that ratified the ILO convention.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• International Labour Organization (ILO)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2026The ILO formally requested the ICJ's advisory opinion in 2023 to settle an internal dispute over whether workers' right to strike is protected under the 1948 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention. The landmark advisory opinion was issued on May 21, 2026, with the ICJ's 14 judges ruling that strike actions are encompassed within the freedom of association guarantee.
• LebanonflagshipOthers · 3 October 2024Former ICJ President Nawaf Salam was appointed as Lebanon's Prime Minister on February 8, 2025, following years of governmental gridlock. Salam previously led the ICJ and is now using his international legal expertise to navigate Lebanon's domestic crisis while calling for stronger international support.
• United Nations General AssemblyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023The UN General Assembly formally requested the ICJ's advisory opinion on climate obligations of states in 2023. This originated from a 2019 university assignment given to law students at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, which grew into a campaign leading to the landmark climate ruling.
• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlongside the ICJ, ITLOS serves as a potential international forum for resolving disputes such as the escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz involving the US and Iran, where both countries are not bound by UNCLOS.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Court of Justice of the European Union: The CJEU is the judicial institution of the EU interpreting EU law and ensuring uniform application across member states. While regional rather than global, it shares the ICJ's role as the ultimate appellate interpreter of a binding legal framework, with similar operating model of a permanent bench issuing binding judgments.
• European Court of Human Rights: The ECHR is a supranational court established by the Council of Europe to enforce the European Convention on Human Rights. It operates as a regional parallel to the ICJ's global human-rights interpretive role, with similar judicial functions, advisory-style interpretive authority, and a comparable bench-of-judges structure.
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights: The Inter-American Court is an autonomous judicial institution based in San José, Costa Rica, that applies and interprets the American Convention on Human Rights. It parallels the ICJ's role in adjudicating human-rights disputes and issuing binding judgments, operating within the OAS framework rather than the UN system.

Others

• International Law Commission: The ILC is a UN body of legal experts that codifies and progressively develops international law. Its work on treaty law, state responsibility, and diplomatic protection directly informs the jurisprudence the ICJ applies, making it a closely related institutional peer in the international legal-order ecosystem.
• United Nations Office of Legal Affairs: The UN Office of Legal Affairs serves as the central legal service of the UN Secretariat, providing legal advice to UN organs and managing treaty depositary functions. It is a sibling UN entity supporting the same international-law framework the ICJ adjudicates, and represents an adjacent institutional peer within the broader UN legal ecosystem.

Direct peers

• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by UNCLOS to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the law of the sea. It directly parallels the ICJ as a specialized international court resolving disputes between states, and is explicitly identified alongside the ICJ as a comparable forum.
• Permanent Court of Arbitration: The PCA is an intergovernmental organization based at the Peace Palace in The Hague providing international dispute resolution services for states, state entities, and international organizations. It shares the ICJ's inter-state arbitration function, geographic location, and Hague institutional ecosystem, though it administers arbitration rather than adjudicating as a standing bench.
• International Criminal Court: Also based in The Hague, the ICC is a permanent international court that prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. It shares the ICJ's international judicial function, multilingual operations, and UN-affiliated institutional backing, but focuses on individual criminal responsibility rather than state-to-state disputes.

Emerging players

• African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: The African Court complements the African Commission's promotional mandate with judicial enforcement of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. As a newer international court with regional jurisdiction, it parallels the ICJ's structure and function within a different geographic and treaty framework.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cij_icj
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cour-internationale-de-justice-international-court-of-justice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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