'The ICJ as Law-Creative Agent'

Gleider Hernández addresses the law-making function of the ICJ and reflects on how the jurisprudence of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) and the ICJ has contributed to the development of international law and to the work of other international courts. Hernández analyses three areas in which the Court has contributed to the development of inter-national law: the determination of customary law, its adherence to its previous decisions and its advisory role. Although the Court’s judgments have some law-creative effect, the author argues that the ICJ is a state-centred body that reinforces the status quo and that it is the compliance of the states involved, rather than a judgment itself, that validates the law.