Third Party Intervention at the International Court of Justice: Challenges and Prospects

Respect for the rights of third parties in international adjudication is necessary if the ideal of a warless world is to be realized. Hence, every affected party must be catered for in any international adjudicatory scheme. The term “intervention” in international procedure describes the mode through which a third State participates, for protection of its own interests, in an international proceeding already set in motion at the instance of two or more States . The Statute and the Rules of the International Court of Justice make provisions for third party intervention. The institution of third party intervention serves a paramount goal. It seeks to safeguard third party rights, thereby, making third parties a part of the process of pacific settlement of international disputes. Nevertheless, the unpalatable truth is that there is nothing satisfactory about the institution of third party intervention at the International Court of Justice. Scholastic analysis of the subject is void of any modicum of praise in it and it is instead rich in criticism and disapproval. On the other hand, the decisions of both the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Court on the subject are also not a good guide, they lack uniformity and consistency. This leaves the law of intervention too uncertain. Although the Court’s decisions are not binding on third parties, a third party who is unable to intervene cannot seek refuge in the shelter provided by the non-binding character of the Court’s decisions to third parties. The protection is only illusory. At the end, third parties are left in the lurch. One of the principal organs of the United Nations does not adequately safeguard their rights.