The International Court of Justice (commonly referred to as the World Court or ICJ) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly. There is no legal basis for the United States to take military action in Syria without an adjudication by the ICJ that the use of chemical weapons was actually at the hand of the Assad regime. Acting outside of the law brands the United States as a rogue nation, unworthy of being respected internationally. Acting within the law supports an international framework for peace.
Why is this important?
There is a real possibility that the United States will soon engage in military action that will result in the deaths of innocent Syrian civilians, on the pretext that Syrians are killing innocent Syrian civilians. There should be an adjudication of complicity by an international tribunal before one nation sanctions another through the use of deadly military action.
