"Does the International Court of Justice have a Criminal Jurisdiction?“
Judge Hilary Charlesworth, Judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) whose distinguished career has combined judicial service at the highest international level with a pioneering legal scholarship, delivered the fifth Nuremberg Academy Lecture on 28 April 2026. The lecture titled “Does the International Court of Justice have a Criminal Jurisdiction” was held in the historic Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.
Professor Dr Christoph Safferling, Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy opened the lecture and noted that the lecture was particularly timely with the ICJ now in a “new era” and dealing with an unprecedented number of proceedings. Further, Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, Head of the Legal Department at the German Federal Foreign Office; Beate Ehrt, President of the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg; and Dr Nasser Ahmed, Party Chairman and City Councillor representing the Lord Mayor of Nuremberg, attended the event and delivered welcoming remarks.
In their addresses, they highlighted the pressing challenges confronting the international criminal justice system and underscored the essential role of law in fostering, sustaining, and restoring peace. As Ms Uslar-Gleichen observed, “both the ICJ and the International Criminal Court are embodiments of our conviction that law serves peace.” Ms Ehrt emphasised that “law is not only an instrument; it is a promise that victims will be heard and that justice will prevail.” Dr Ahmed concluded by stressing that “peace is a work of justice [...] it is our responsibility.” The lecture was followed by a highly engaging discussion with the audience chaired by Dr Viviane Dittrich, Deputy Director of the Nuremberg Academy.
Judge Charlesworth noted that while the ICJ technically has no criminal jurisdiction, there was value in not drawing a hard line while assessing the interaction of these two distinct regimes. She emphasised that while the ICJ did not have a formal criminal jurisdiction, it has contributed significantly to clarifying its contours and its wider development.
Judge Charlesworth elaborated on three types of encounters that the ICJ has had with criminal jurisdiction, namely missed encounters, indirect encounters and direct encounters. She noted how separate or dissenting opinions issued by court on the nature of reservations in relation to conventions such as the Genocide Convention or the question of immunities sheds light on these important interactions. She focussed on the example of the Srebrenica Genocide and the Hissène Habré case as examples of the International Court of Justice relying on the work of international criminal tribunals, and vice versa.
Judge Charlesworth concluded by emphasising that the International Court of Justice is a crucial thread in an intricate and complementary fabric, with the international criminal tribunals and domestic courts constituting other important and inter-connected threads. She stated that while the ICJ addresses inter-state disputes and criminal courts focus on individual responsibility, international justice remains a whole, viewed both holistically and through specialised lenses. Judge Charlesworth called for better dialogue between these courts so as to ensure better cohesion among proceedings focussing on state and individual criminal responsibility.
Judge Hilary Charlesworth was re-elected as a Judge of the International Court of Justice on 9 November 2023, having previously been elected on 5 November 2021 to serve the remainder of the late Judge James Crawford’s term. Prior to her election, Judge Charlesworth was Harrison Moore Professor of Law and a Melbourne Laureate Professor at Melbourne Law School. She was also a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University. Judge Charlesworth has been a visiting professor at various institutions including Harvard Law School, New York University Global Law School, University of California, Los Angeles, Paris I and the London School of Economics. She has been a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law and the American Society of International Law as well as President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law. Judge Charlesworth is a member of the Institut de Droit International and the British Academy. She served as Judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice in the Whaling in the Antarctic case (Australia v Japan) (2011-2014) and in the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 case (Guyana v Venezuela) (2019-2021).
The lecture was video recorded and is available on the Academy’s YouTube channel.
The Nuremberg Academy Lecture 2026 is the fifth edition of this lecture series. For more information on the Nuremberg Academy Lectures, including video recordings of past editions, please click here. (km)
