ICJ BMUN LXVII

One of the key differences between the ICJ and other committees is that the ICJ does not concern itself with resolutions. Instead, as judges of the court, you will be expected to formulate Verdicts at the end of debate. Verdicts are documents that judges of the ICJ use to declare their ruling on the case. Just as a resolution is a reasoned reflection of one’s stance in committee, so too is the Verdict the culmination of arguments and evidence made throughout the course of the conference. In order to form your Verdicts, you will form a group of 4 or 5 with other fellow judges and write your Verdicts during unmoderated caucus sessions in the latter part of committee. Verdicts in the ICJ at BMUN should be comprised of three primary sections: Overall Ruling, Evidence, and Legal Precedent and Implications. The Overall Ruling section deals with presenting your group’s ruling in terms of the four Levels of Guilt**. Here, explicitly address the Levels of Guilt your group has chosen to app...

Hi delegates! This week's blog post will be discussing witnesses and how they play a role in our committee and in the actual ICJ. It is very worthy of noting that witness testimony in the ICJ for both parties involved play a vital role in deciding the outcome of the case. This is due to the fact that various witness testimonies can be very helpful and reliable in deciding whether the faults of each party/country are actually valid. Witness testimony can possibly affirm the respondent party's accusation or refute it, so it is a very large deciding factor. At BMUN's conference, we will have approximately two to three witnesses be introduced in committee for each day of conference. Witnesses will vary from each party (Georgia v. Russia). For example, one of our witnesses will be the Georgian President in 2008 testifying under oath, to various legal scholars who will be able to clarify Russia's supposed violations of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimin...

Hi delegates! This blog post will be reviewing the role of South Ossetia in the conflict between Georgia and Russia, specifically focusing on the events of 2008 and ethnic conflict within the region.                 For reference, South Ossetia is located along the Georgian-Russian border. Separatist sentiments have been brewing within South Ossetia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The region of Ossetia, as seen in the map, is split between Georgia and Russia. Both North and South Ossetia are primarily occupied by Ossetians, a unique ethnic group which speaks neither Georgian nor Russian. However, South Ossetia had a significant population of ethnic Georgians living within the region before the conflict; the treatment of ethnic Georgians in the region is one of the central issues which our case will be studying.            ...

Hi Delegates!  I hope your February has gotten off to a spectacular start.  By now, you've hopefully begun perusing materials related to Georgia v. Russia , and more likely than not have been encountering a thick web of legalese to sort through while you research.  Have no fear--below is a short list of a few of the most relevant legal terms to know to make your reading a bit easier and your understanding of the case a bit better. Prima facie: based on the first impression.  This is generally a fact or circumstances that are accepted as established unless proven otherwise.  Example: "...the Court explains that it is for it to determine prima facie whether a dispute within the meaning of Article 22 of CERD exists." ( Request for the indication of provisional measures, ICJ Summary of the Order , 4)  Provisional measures: Provisional measures for protection are interim, or temporary orders issued by the ICJ that are roughly analogous to restraining order...

As you prepare for conference, your position paper will be one of your most indispensable tools. Not only will you use your position papers to solidify your position and arguments in committee, but you will also find the process of writing and researching for your position papers to be rewarding in and of itself. This case, while being somewhat complicated, is also deeply fascinating and I hope you guys get to see some of that through your research. The first of the three major sections of the position paper is Historical Background. Here, you’re expected to show clear understanding of the key events leading up to and during the Russo-Georgian war of 2008, around which our case revolves. In order to effectively demonstrate this, you must highlight the intricate political dynamic between not only the main parties involved, Georgia and Russia, but also the maneuvering around the regional governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, who also serve as major players in this conflict. Cons...

Hi Delegates!      Preliminary objections are an important facet of international law and the ICJ. According to the Oxford Scholarly Authorities on International Law , a preliminary objection is “a formal step by which a respondent raises a question which it contends should be dealt with separately, before any other issue in the proceedings is examined.” Preliminary objections are submitted prior to the start of the case; if the Court rules to uphold these objections, the case will not proceed. One of the most common types of preliminary objections is questioning the jurisdiction of the Court, as seen in our case Georgia v. Russian Federation. Interestingly, the ICJ uses treaties and international law as a basis for establishing whether or not they have jurisdiction in their own cases.           The preliminary objections in Georgia v. Russian Federation, submitted by Russia, are centered around Article 22 of the Convention on the Elimina...

Hello delegates! Our first blogpost will be an introduction to what the International Court of Justice is and what purpose it serves. To begin with, the ICJ is the only judicial branch of the United Nations and assists in resolving various disputes between member nations and other arbitration.  It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946. The ICJ is located in The Hague in Netherlands.  In terms of how the Court functions, there are fifteen judges that sit on the Court and resolve cases; each of the judges is appointed from a different country. They are elected to nine-year terms, as opposed to the United States' Supreme Court, which appoints judges for life.  As mentioned in the topic synopsis for this committee, the ICJ solves disputes for two types of cases: advisory proceedings and contentious cases. Contentious cases are just disputes between two member countries that must reach a conclusion (i.e. Georgia v....

Hello everyone!!!        As of this week, regular substantive blog posts will begin. Each week will herald new blogs whose topics will range from a background of the ICJ to deeper analyses of key events and battles that comprise this case. The case at hand, the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, is one that has many aspects made even more complicated by the fact that the case did not proceed to trial in real life. In order to effectively argue for either side of this case, Russia’s guilt or Georgia’s improper application to the court, you must employ an in depth knowledge of the case and the events surrounding it to come up with a legally grounded argument.        The whole purpose of the blogs themselves, is to get you guys thinking about this problem from a variety of perspectives in order to eventually develop your points of view as judges in the ICJ  in accordance with...

Hello Everyone!!!        My name is Ashwin Srikanth, and I have the pleasure of serving as your head chair in the ICJ at BMUN 67. I’m super excited to meet you all at conference this year! I’m a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Molecular and Cellular Biology and Public Health and I’m currently pre-med, but we’ll see how long that lasts. I’m originally from San Jose, California, but I grew up all around the world in Finland, Brazil, and China. Though my chosen field of study has little to do with the ICJ, I was drawn to the fast paced debate and intriguing discourse that characterize the committee.        Outside of school, I sing bass in the UC Berkeley Chamber Choir and am a part of a couple independent research projects on Esotropia and Epidemiology. I love reading pretty much anything I can get my hands on, binge watching Netflix, and travelling. I’m a huge Sci-Fi and Fantasy geek (Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings especially) and I think...

Hi Delegates! My name is Amanda Ostrom, and I am very excited to be one of your Vice Chairs for the ICJ committee this year! I attended BMUN as a delegate in high school and loved it, so I am looking forward to my first experience as a dais member and making sure you all h ave a great conference. In particular, I am excited to be a member of the ICJ because of its unique status as a committee that handles issues of diplomacy within court cases. About me: I am a freshman, planning to double major in economics and political science. In my free time, I love listening to music, watching Netflix, and scrolling through dog Instagram accounts. I also have an unhealthy love of coffee and breakfast food. I’m originally from Sacramento, California. Like Ali and Incia said, feel free to reach out and ask questions! We’re here to help. I’m looking forward to meeting you in March and having a great conference! -           Amanda Ostrom ...

Hey everyone!  My name is Ali Maloney, and I will be serving as one of your vice chairs for this session of BMUN.  This marks my third year in a row on a court-style committee at BMUN, and hopefully after conference you'll see why I haven't been able to pull myself away.   I'm currently a third-year studying English Literature at UC Berkeley but am originally from Greenwich, Connecticut.  Outside of BMUN, I'm an editor for the Berkeley Fiction Review, a short fiction publication on campus and in my spare time enjoy skiing, reading, trying new foods, and dancing alone in my room to early 2000s hip hop.  I hope to attend law school after graduating from Berkeley, so the ICJ is of particular interest to me: it represents the intersection between law and international relations.  I'm especially interested in how international law treaties and protocols are actually implemented in practice and whether or not they are sufficient for establishing the justice ...

Hello delegates! My name is Incia Haider and I will be your Vice-Chair for this year’s International Court of Justice Committee. I am so excited to be participating in BMUN LXVII and am looking forward to hearing all your standpoints on the topic at hand! A little bit about myself: I am currently a freshman here at UC Berkeley, majoring in Global Studies and am on the pre-law track! Outside of studying for classes/exams and being in BMUN, I am also a part of Phi Alpha Delta, which is a pre-law fraternity on campus. I am originally from Laguna Hills, California in Orange County and have lived there my entire life. However, both my parents immigrated here from Pakistan and I am a proud Pakistani-American! Outside of school, I really enjoy eating food and trying new restaurants, traveling, and watching Youtube/Netflix. I will also never turn down a good quality meme. Again, I am so excited to be your Vice-Chair for the ICJ Committee and if you have any questions about the commit...

It’s our distinct pleasure to welcome you all to the International Court of Justice! The ICJ at BMUN is a unique specialized committee where fast-moving debate and exciting witness testimony make participation a truly exciting experience. The ICJ operates with court-style procedure where delegates debate and rule on a contentious case between two countries. This year, we will be examining Georgia v. Russian Federation: Application of the International Convention On the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination . This case, which was submitted to the court by Georgia in 2008, has far reaching implications for the future of international law and presents a unique conceptual challenge. We hope that you have as much fun researching this intriguing case as we did! However interesting the case may be, it still deals with many aspects of international law and will require you to research this topic thoroughly in order to come up with effective legal arguments. More detailed i...