Monday, Oct. 21, 1985

American Notes Justice

Since it was formed as the judicial arm of the fledgling United Nations 40 years ago, the World Court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, has received staunch support from the U.S. But when the 15-judge panel in the Hague agreed last November to hear charges from Nicaragua that the Reagan Administration was directing and supplying the anti-Sandinista contra rebels, the U.S. insisted that such conflicts were beyond the court's authority. Last week, as the judges were deliberating over the Sandinista case without U.S. participation, Washington's complaints about "political abuse" of the ICJ came to a head. The Reagan Administration formally terminated the U.S. agreement to accept the panel's jurisdiction in international law, citing the danger to U.S. security if other hostile countries were to use the ICJ as a "weapon" in political conflicts. Though the U.S. will continue to use the court to resolve commercial and border disputes with cooperating nations, legal experts say the move essentially turns the ICJ into an arbitration panel. The U.S. action leaves only 47 U.N. members that still formally recognize ICJ jurisdiction. Among those that do not are the Soviet Union and most European nations.