Delegate’s Guidebook

Model United Nations

Al Bateen Academy
2019-2020

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Al Bateen Academy

Model United Nations

2019

International court of Justice

(ICJ)
 Table of contents:
Introduction…………………………………………………………
…………………………………..1
What is
ICJ?................................................................................................2
Phases and
procedures……………………………………………………………
…………3
Roles of advocates, witnesses and
judges……………………………….4-5
Objections, points and
motions………………….…………………………………6-7
The
conference……………………………………………………….……
………….……….7-8
 Introduction
Congratulations on being assigned as an advocate of the first MUN
committee of ICJ in Al Bateen Academy! Your participation in the
committee is very crucial and is respected vastly. It is important for your
chairs and the other representatives that ICJ is an exciting and fun
experience, however, there are certain expectations that come with the
position and need to be addressed:

-Your chairs will expect everyone to turn up to our sessions on time. It is

crucial you do so as we are going to use our sessions efficiently in order to
prepare for our final conference meeting. Each session will have its own
value to it, and it would be important for your chairs to know if you cannot
attend a session minimum a day prior.
-ICJ representatives are expected to submit their work in time at all times.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your commitment is credible. Being
a part of this committee requires you to follow the instructions in order to
make the experience of ICJ more enjoyable for everyone. Other people will
rely on you with your work and making our sessions more exciting.
-In case of ANY complications, contact your chairs and don’t be afraid to
talk to other advocates. If at any point, you are confused and do not
understand certain aspect of a session, don’t hesitate and ask. In case you
do feel like you need to ask questions privately, your chairs will be open to
that idea. It is vital for you to ask questions as it is a new committee, and no
one is completely familiar with it.

This is all from us for now.

We wish you good luck and an enjoyable experience of ICJ MUN!

Ada & Mohannad.

What is ICJ?
1
The International Court of Justice was first established in June 1945 and began
work in April 1946. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United
Nations. In accordance with International Law, its role is to settle legal disputes
submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinion on legal questions.
If you want to do any further research on the ICJ, we advise you use United
Nations visit:
http://www.icj-cij.org/homepage/index.php?lang=en
  How does the Model ICJ work?
The ICJ consists of 4 judges and 4 advocates divided by two equal pairs
representing each country on the trial in question. Each advocate team has to
make their case and convince the panel of judges to vote for or against
(respectively) on the case. During the procedure, the advocates have to call on
their memorandum, their witnesses and substantial evidence that they have
provided. It is in the judges’ discretion to decide whether the evidence and
witnesses’ statements are taken under Minimum, Medium, Maximum
Consideration. Each judge has one vote for or against the Applicant. In the off
chance that there is a tie, the president of the ICJ has the deciding vote.

 What should be done prior to the Court Session?

(Advocates)
Each team of Advocates representing their Country is obligated to prepare a
Memorandum that shows the position of their country and their point of view
on the matter. Within the Memorandum (which is approximately 700 words)
there should be included: a complete listing of the issues of their country, events
and facts that
happened between those two countries considering the case and anything else
that would make the judges more sympathetic towards their side. The form 2
that it should follow is:

1: Statement of Facts
2: Statement of the Applicable Law
3: A passage supporting the claims of each country
4: Wishes and propositions for the exact terms the ICJ should advise

In addition to that, the Advocates have to find Evidence (facts and events both
parties agree on) and present them to the presidency. The above documents
have to be sent to the Presidency and distributed to the Judges prior to the
conference. Furthermore, the Advocates have to prepare a witness list and
inform the Presidency. The witnesses have to be relevant to the case.

 Phases and procedures

1. Open statements (restatement of the memorandum)
2. Presentation of evidence (Evidence and its relation to the case)
3. Questioning of the agents by judges alongside with evidence
 4. Testimony of the witnesses (Direct examination, where each side
questions their own witnesses and cross examination, where each side
questions opposing wintnesses)
5. Rebuttal and Surebuttal (Presenting documents to the judges NO NEW
EVIDENCE PRESENTED)
6. Testimony of witnesses
7. Rebuttal and Surebuttal (what did the opposing side missed out on)
8. Judges deliberation (Advocates leave, and judges discuss the case in
private)
9. Closing statements (given by the agents and what have they proven
through their evidence and delivering their prayer for relief)

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 What should be done prior to the Court Session?
(Witnesses)

What are witnesses? Witnesses are representatives chosen by the advocates to

give testimonial to the court. They are usually asked to play the role of
ambassador of a certain nation that the advocates think will support their side of
the case. At this conference, the roles of witnesses will be filled by other
delegates at the conference, who may or may not be representing the same
nation in the ICJ as they are in their own committee. Therefore, it is up to the
advocates to prepare the witnesses with the information they will need to
represent their nation and its policy on the case at hand, including any specifics
about treaties, statistics, evidence, and other facts of the case. Unlike advocates,
anything that witnesses say during testimonial is counted as evidence by the
court, so it is important that witnesses understand what they are saying. In any
case where the witness is asked a question that they do not know the answer to,
they are advised to answer honestly. Each council will be allowed 2-3 witnesses
of their choosing for this case. What do witnesses do? Each witness has an hour
in the ICJ room where they will be questioned by the advocates. The advocates
that chose the witness will begin with “direct examination” where they will ask
non-leading questions (questions that do not imply a given answer) of the
witness to get across one point. After this, the opposing council will be allowed
to “cross-examine” the witness, where they are allowed to ask leading questions
of the witness, within the scope of the previous cross examination. After this,
the first council is allowed to re-direct examine the witness to address new
points, followed by re- cross, etc, until the hour is up. No hearsay questions are
allowed during questioning (hear-say questions are questions to the witness
about something another party has said). After advocates have questioned the
witness, the judges will be allowed to briefly question the witness to clarify
anything the witness has previously said on the case.
  What should be done prior to the Court Session?
(Judges)

The Judges shall be appointed by the Secretariat amongst the applicants prior to
the conference and shall remain in duty until the closing of proceedings unless
otherwise decided by the Secretariat. A solemn declaration shall be made by
each Judge individually prior to the trial; “I, Judge ˝Surname˝, solemnly declare
that I will perform my duties and exercise my powers as a Judge honorably,
faithfully, impartially and conscientiously. Judges are responsible to determine
the rules of international law on the specific case and reach a final Judgment.
The final Judgment of the Court shall be written by the members of the Court
and announced by the President. Each Judge shall have one vote in procedural
and substantive voting procedures. Judge’s decisions and actions must be
unbiased. If they fail to meet this criterion, they may be given an official
warning by the President or the Secretariat. Judges may ask the advocates or
witnesses questions in the designated phases of the trial proceedings.

 Objection, points and motion

The Objections, Motions and Points are used to draw attention to mistakes
that may have been made, requests to do something outside of the natural 5
procedure and questions that a participant may have.

Objections:

• Hearsay (during the interrogation of the witness, the witness doesn’t work as
a primary source but as a secondary)
• Leading Question (the questions made by the advocate providing the witness
to the same witness can be answered in a yes or no manner or it is posed in a
way that the witness doesn’t express their opinion
• Speculation (the witness or an advocate tries to predict a certain outcome that
is not capable of being confirmed)
• Prejudicial (a question hurts the integrity of the panel or the witness)
• Competence (a question requires knowledge that the witness cannot possibly
possess ex. a question with technical details)
• Badgering (a question is intimidating the witness)

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Points:

• Point of Personal Privilege

• Point of Parliamentary Inquiry

Motions:

• Motion to extend (only made by the Judges)

• Motion to approach the board (only made by the Advocates)

How does the conference work?

The conference consists of 3 days and each day will serve a different schedule

Day 1

1. Roll Call
2. Opening statements
3. Presentation of evidence by both parties
4. Judges Deliberation
5. Questioning of Advocates by the Judges

Day 2

1. Roll Call
2. Debate
3. Presentation of Witnesses
4. Cross examination
5. Interrogation of Witnesses by the Judges
6. Judges Deliberation
7. Questioning of Advocates by the Judges

Day 3 7

1. Rebuttal
2. Questioning of Advocates by the Judges
3. Deliberation
4. Verdict
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