MEZINÁRODNÍ SOUDNICTVÍ: NOVÉ ÚKOLY A VÝZVY

SUMMARY The collective monograph is not only about the decision-making, but also especially about the interpretative function of international courts. Court decisions are also a subsidiary means for determining legal rules within the meaning of Article 38, paragraph 1(d) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In other words, the aim of the book is not only to show how international courts have decided specific disputes between States, or possibly on charges of crimes under international law (at the ICC), but also how their judgments and advisory opinions have contributed to the identification and interpretation of rules of international law. The decision-making activity of international courts, which this monograph focuses on, contributes primarily to our understanding of specific institutions of international law and how the rules of international law are applied in specific situations. At the same time, however, it helps to understand the general principles of the functioning of the international order. CHAPTER 1 Obligations erga omnes (partes) in the case law of the International Court of Justice Pavel Šturma The aim of the first chapter is to examine and evaluate trends in the case law of the International Court of Justice concerning the interpretation and application of that part of multilateral obligations that are intended for all members of the international community of States ( erga omnes obligations), or for all States that are parties to certain multilateral treaties that protect common interests ( erga omnes partes obligations). Although these are quantitatively not very numerous obligations, they are nevertheless of fundamental importance for the character of modern general international law. In addition to obligations arising from customary norms (primarily of a mandatory nature), they also include some multilateral treaty regimes, particularly in the area of human rights and international environmental law. The traditional model of judicial dispute resolution, which has long been satisfactory and still works for a large part of the disputes decided by the ICJ, is based on the fact that a large part of international obligations are bilateral in nature. In the event of their violation by one State, specific, individual harm arises to another State. The innovative elements that the ICJ gradually adopts, under the influence of the codification of international law in the International Law Commission, build on the recognition of the differences that arise from obligations erga omnes ( partes ). In these cases, the very wrongfulness (breach of the obligation) establishes the responsibility of the violator and the possibility for any State (without its own prejudice) to raise a claim for responsibility under Article 48 of

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