Croatia v. Serbia (12 March 2014)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the UN, holds public hearings in the case Croatia v Serbia from 3 March to 1 April 2014 at the Peace Palace, seat of the Court. La Cour internationale de Justice (CIJ), organe judiciaire principal des Nations Unies, tient des audiences publiques en l'affaire Croatie c Serbie du 3 mars au 1er avril 2014, au Palais de la Paix, à La Haye. Programme: Click here for the schedule for the hearings. Cliquer ici pour obtenir le programme complet des audiences. Agents: L'agent de la Croatie est Mme Vesna Crnić Grotić. The Agent of Croatia is Mrs Vesna Crnić Grotić. L'agent de la Serbie est M. Saša Obradović. The Agent of Serbia is Mr Saša Obradović. Background: The history of the Croatia v Serbia proceedings is set out in paragraphs 103 to 113 of the Court's 2012-2013 Annual Report, available here. Click here to view the complete ICJ file of the Croatia v Serbia Case. L'historique de la procédure figure aux paragraphes 103 à 113 du Rapport annuel de la Cour 2012-2013, disponible ici. Cliquer ici pour consulter le dossier CIJ complet de l'affaire Croatie c Serbie. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the "World Court", it is the only court of a universal character with general jurisdiction. The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious proceedings, and to certain organs and institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the other mostly criminal judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal court, established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial body composed of Lebanese and international judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal and does not form part of the Lebanese judicial system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1899).