The International Court of Justice (ICJ) case on Gaza brought by South Africa against Israel has ‘commanded world-wide attention’ and ‘received a mixed reception’, Marc Weller, professor of international law at Cambridge University and associate tenant, Doughty Street, writes in this week’s NLJ
Weller covers the ‘change to its traditional stance’ of the court allowing South Africa rather than the immediate victim to bring a claim, noting previous examples of this. He writes: ‘It is noteworthy (and the court did expressly note) that this previously highly controversial issue was not even raised by Israel in these proceedings, supporting the view that the matter is now regarded as settled law.’
As the case was at a ‘preliminary measures phase’, South Africa only had to establish a prima facie case, that a ‘plausible’ argument can be made. He explains the basic three elements required for this, including ‘intent’, as well as the court’s response.
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