The Function of Legal Ritual in the Peace Palace

Abstract

Abstract The article argues that oral proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) can be understood as a particular type of legal ritual. Following an introduction, Section 2 provides an account of the oral proceedings before the ICJ. With reference to Catherine Bell’s six characteristics of ritual-like practices, Section 3 shows that the ICJ’s oral proceedings are formal and traditional, relatively static and rule-governed, employ sacral symbolism, and resemble a performance. Section 4 considers the function and meaning of the legal ritual of oral proceedings before the ICJ. It argues that the ICJ’s legal ritual creates a sense of community among the international legal order’s different stakeholders and establishes the legitimacy of this community and the values it represents. The article concludes by noting that the ICJ’s legal ritual is one of the court’s most important means of enforcing the terms of the international legal order.