THE HAGUE, Netherlands, April 12 (UPI) -- Celebrations started Wednesday in The Hague for the 60th anniversary of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court.
In the presence of the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "Today, more than ever before, U.N. member states are turning to (this court), not just to resolve land and maritime boundary disputes, or to complain of treaty violations, but also on matters of genocide and the use of force."
The ICJ, also commonly called the World Court, is the United Nation's highest court, and deals with disputes between nation states.
It is less prominent than the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court, which also deals with war crimes and is now addressing cases from Congo and Darfur.
Annan said the ICJ has never been more efficient than now.
"It has streamlined its rules and speeded up its decision-making, without compromising procedural requirements or intellectual quality."
The number of decisions made by the ICJ has been relatively small, but there has been an increased willingness -- especially among developing countries -- to use the body since the 1980s.
The United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986; it only accepts the court's jurisdiction on a case-to-case basis.
The ICJ is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms by the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council in independent sittings. It may not include more than one judge of any nationality.
