Critical Analysis of the International Court of Justice Ruling on Israel's Security Barrier

On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) handed down an Advisory Opinion concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In producing the Opinion, the Court traversed issues concerning its jurisdiction to deal with the request, the applicable law, the adherence by Israel to that law, the right of self-defense and the consequences of its findings of unlawfulness. It is well known that the long running issue of Israeli and Palestinian reconciliation is a politically heated one and the work of the ICJ has not been immune from the effects of this context. This Article asserts that the context overtook the law in the production of the Opinion and has thereby distorted the result.

As a consequence, the ICJ has done significant damage to its credibility and to the aspects of international law traversed in the Opinion.