Chapter Two. Presentation from the Standpoint of Spanish Law, on the Legal Process Available to Parties in the Contentious Procedure of the International Court of Justice

Abstract

The proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) constitute an activity, a series or succession of regulated acts intended to achieve a given end participated in by the ICJ as the jurisdictional body, the States parties in the dispute concerned, and where applicable any intervening States. The Spanish Civil Procedure Act provides various solutions to enforce nullity, depending on whether or not a decision has been rendered and depending on whether or not the decision rendered is final. For a judicial procedure to provide means of enforcing annulment of judicial proceedings, the applicable law must have defined the causes that can be invoked therefor, as does the Spanish Civil Procedure Act. The Court’s contentious procedure provides for ordinary proceedings, incidental proceedings and special proceedings. The Court can also issue orders authorising ad hoc means of opposition to actions of the other party, with a view to settling the issues. Keywords: ad hoc procedures; contentious procedure; incidental proceedings; International Court of Justice (ICJ); ordinary proceedings; Spanish Law; special proceedings