Legal Issues

The international court of justice is not the first world court. It was formed in 1946 based on international convections and treaties. The predecessor was an organization which was formed in 1921. The international court of justice which is based at Hague solves civil disputes for members of United Nations. The earlier judicial body was the Permanent Court of International Justice. This organization was based on the League of Nations (Jennings, 1995). International court of Justice was started in 1946 and deals with matters concerning international law formulated through treaties and convections. It has binding decisions but limited enforcement powers.

There are various procedures followed in the world court. The world court is comprised of 15 judges who are elected by party countries and serve for a term of nine years. The decisions made by world court are based on international law. It handles civil cases presented by United Nation member states. Disputes are addressed upon agreement with the countries concerned. The countries involved must agree to offer the case to the world court (Jennings, 1995). The procedures followed are not similar to any US court since the procedures are based on international law formed through convections and treaties.

Advisory opinion is an opinion given by a court in situation where there is no controversy. The concern in advisory opinion is interpretation of legal matters. Advisory opinion is offered in certain situations. Advisory opinion may either be exposed to public or kept under cover depending on the parties involved and nature of the opinion. Advisory opinions are offered by courts which mandated to do so. The court which offers advisory opinions is not involved in adjudication of a certain legal case (Bodie, 1995). They offer advice concerning interpretation of law.