World Court

December 13, 2024 5:56 PM

Rich countries, island states lock horns on climate change at UN court

The World Court concludes hearings on Friday on countries' legal obligation to fight climate change and whether large states contributing most to greenhouse-gas emissions may be liable for damage caused to small island nations. The International Court of Justice will issue an opinion on those questions, likely in 2025, that could be cited in climate change-driven litigation around the world. During two weeks of hearings, rich countries of the global north broadly argued that existing climate t...

August 16, 2024 8:31 PM

World Court to hold hearings in case that may define countries’ climate obligations

The International Court of Justice said on Friday it would hold public hearings starting Dec. 2 in an advisory opinion case that may become a reference point in defining countries' legal obligations to fight climate change. The ICJ, known as the World Court, is the United Nations' highest court for resolving international disputes. In 2023, the U.N. General Assembly asked it for a formal opinion on questions including whether large states that contribute to greenhouse-gas emissions may be liabl...

May 27, 2024 7:49 PM

Israeli attack on Rafah tent camp kills 45, prompts global outcry

An Israeli airstrike triggered a massive blaze killing 45 people in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, officials said on Monday, prompting an outcry from global leaders who urged the implementation of a World Court order to halt the assault. In scenes grimly familiar from a war in its eighth month, Palestinian families rushed to hospitals to prepare their dead for burial after the strike late on Sunday night set tents and rickety metal shelters ablaze. Israel said initial investigations sh...

May 24, 2024 10:31 PM

World Court orders Israel to halt assault on Gaza’s Rafah

Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide. While the International Court of Justice, or World Court, has no means to enforce its orders, the case was a stark sign of Israel's global isolation over its campaign in Gaza, particularly since it began its offensive against Rafah this month against the pleas of its closest...

May 23, 2024 7:20 PM

World Court set to rule on measures over Israel’s Rafah offensive

The International Court of Justice will rule on Friday on South Africa's request to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive in Gaza, it said on Thursday. Last week, South Africa had asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to order a halt to Israel's offensive in Gaza, and in Rafah in particular, saying this was necessary to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people. The demand for such an emergency measure is part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Af...

May 17, 2024 6:26 PM

Fierce fighting in northern Gaza as Israel defends itself at World Court

Israeli forces battled Hamas fighters in the narrow alleyways of Jabalia in northern Gaza on Friday in some of the fiercest engagements since they returned to the area a week ago, while in the south militants attacked tanks massing around Rafah. Residents said Israeli armour had thrust as far as the market at the heart of Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, and that bulldozers were demolishing homes and shops in the path of the advance. As fighting raged in the north a...