Summaries of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders of the International Court of Justice
In the present case, the Court has already held that Article 12 of the Charter does not deprive it of the jurisdiction conferred by Article 96, paragraph 1. The Court considers that the fact that a matter falls within the primary responsibility of the Security Council for situations which may affect the maintenance of international peace and security and that the Council has been exercising its powers in that respect does not preclude the General Assembly from discussing that situation or, within the limits set by Article 12, making recommendations with regard thereto.
The Court recalls that the purpose of the advisory jurisdiction is to enable organs of the United Nations and other authorized bodies to obtain opinions from the Court which will assist them in the future exercise of their functions. The Court cannot determine what steps the General Assembly may wish to take after receiving the Court's opinion or what effect that opinion may have in relation to those steps. As has been demonstrated, the General Assembly is entitled to discuss the declaration of independence and, within the limits considered above, to make recommendations in respect of that or other aspects of the situation in Kosovo without trespassing on the powers of the Security Council. That being the case, the fact that, hitherto, the declaration of independence has been discussed only in the Security Council and that the Council has been the organ which has taken action with regard to the situation in Kosovo does not constitute a compelling reason for the Court to refuse to respond to the request from the General Assembly.
The Court also notes that the General Assembly has taken action with regard to the situation in Kosovo in the past. Between 1995 and 1999, the General Assembly adopted six resolutions addressing the human rights situation in Kosovo. Since 1999, the General Assembly has each year approved, in accordance with Article 17, paragraph 1, of the Charter, the budget of UNMIK. The Court observes therefore that the General Assembly has exercised functions of its own in the situation in Kosovo.
The Court notes that the fact that it will necessarily have to interpret and apply the provisions of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) in the course of answering the question put by the General Assembly does not constitute a compelling reason not to respond to that question. While the interpretation and application of a decision of one of the political organs of the United Nations is, in the first place, the responsibility of the organ which took that decision, the Court, as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has also frequently been required to consider the interpretation and legal effects of such decisions. The Court therefore finds that there is nothing incompatible with the integrity of its judicial function in undertaking such a task. In its view the question is, rather, whether it should decline to respond to the request from the General Assembly unless it is asked to do so by the Security Council, the latter being, as the Court recalls, both the organ which adopted resolution 1244 and the organ which is, in the first place, responsible for interpreting and applying it. The Court observes that "[w]here, as here, the General Assembly has a legitimate interest in the answer to a question, the fact that that answer may turn, in part, on a decision of the Security Council is not sufficient to justify the Court in declining to give its opinion to the General Assembly". The Court concludes from the foregoing that "there are no compelling reasons for it to decline to exercise its jurisdiction in respect of the…request" before it.
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