ICJ

• Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain have asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to open proceedings against Iran over the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020 that killed all 176 people on board.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)

• ICJ was established in 1945 by the United Nations charter and started working in April 1946.
• ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the UN.
• It is situated at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands) and is the only one of six principal organs of the United Nations, not located in New York (USA).
• ICJ is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of 9 years by UNGA and UNSC.
• ICJ entertain 2 types of cases:
  • legal disputes between States submitted to it by them (contentious cases) and
  • requests for advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by United Nations organs and specialized agencies (advisory proceedings).
• Members- 193 state parties (including India)