Difference between ICC and ICJ
In the twenty first century so many institutions and agencies have arose to speak against violations of human rights but the most outstanding watch dogs of human rights and the humanitarian law are the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice. If we could start by defining the word court, we can say that it is a tribunal charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the set laws in society are not breached. Now let us take a look at these two courts and try to see why they stir so much public confusion. To start with, The International Criminal Court and The International Court of Justice exhibit a lot of similarities except on their jurisdiction. Both of these courts have their headquarters at the Hague in The Netherlands .Now we can start looking at each of these Courts so as to understand them better and appreciate their differences .
ICC
The International Criminal Court (ICC) handles cases of all crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and war perpetration crimes. In other words ICC works under the discretions of the humanitarian law which articulates all actions done against the rights of people as human beings .Some of the cases being probed by the ICC are ; War crimes in The Democratic Republic of Congo ,Northern Uganda ,applications to investigation into the wars in Sudan ,Probe into the post-election violence in Kenya and many others .The jurisdictions of the ICC include ; criminal , Territorial , temporary and complimentary jurisdictions . The ICC and the United Nations have separate jurisdictions since the UN has the responsibility of ensuring peace in the nations while the ICC is charged with the responsibility of trying those who breach the human rights as stipulated in the Rome statute.
ICJ
The ICJ is a wing of the United Nation which handles disputes between member states and also giving directives about queries brought forward by creditable international organizations .You should understand that the cases being probed by ICJ must follow specific steps starting from filing an application outlining the jurisdiction of the court and the legitimacy of the claims.
With the explanation above it is now clear on how we should approach cases arising and thus requiring intervention of either of the two courts .These two courts assists the process of carrying out investigations. The jurisdiction of any of the two courts is of paramount importance as it determines whether or not the case can be handled by the courts, e.g. The fact as to whether your country is signatory to the United Nations is going to influence your decision as to whether you can file a case with the ICJ or not. Just in case your country is not a member state, you can take the case to the ICC only if your country is a signatory to the Rome statute.
Summary
- The ICC and ICJ are both charged with duty of investigating and carrying out cases against humanity.
- Both ICC and ICJ have their capital at The Hague in Netherlands.
- ICJ is an organ of the UN which resolves disputes between states but on the other hand the ICC is independent from the United Nations.
- If your country is a member of the UN you can directly approach the ICJ or ICC if otherwise.
- International Criminal Court (ICC) is called to form a tribunal to deal with cases of genocides and other crimes against humanity while the ICJ with cases between UN member states.