The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ and one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. Established in 1946 in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice,the Court is mandated to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in The Hague ,the Netherlands.

    The Court is composed of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The members of the Court are elected for nine years and may be re-elected. One third of the Court is elected every three years. Candidates are nominated by the national groups designated by the contracting parties of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, or national groups constituted under the same conditions in case of States not represented in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The judges should represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world. The Court holds a secret ballot to elect a President and a Vice-President to hold office for three years.

The Court is competent to entertain a dispute only if the States concerned have accepted its jurisdiction in one or more of the following ways:by entering into a special agreement to submit the dispute to the Court;by virtue of a jurisdictional clause in a treaty;through the reciprocal effect of declarations made by them under the Statute, whereby each has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory in the event of a dispute with another State having made a similar declaration. When decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it,the Court shall apply: international conventions,international custom and the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations. Besides,subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations may be used as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. And the Court can decide a case ex aequo et bono, if the parties agree thereto.

In recent years, the number of cases brought before the Court has remained at a historically high level, covering important issues of international law and matters of common concern to all humanity, such as international peace and security, diplomatic relations, territorial and maritime delimitation, and the interpretation and application of international treaties.

The Chinese who have served as judges of the International Court of Justice include Hsu Mo (1946–1956), Koo Vi Kuiyuin Wellington (1957–1967), Ni Zhengyu (1985–1994), Shi Jiuyong (1994–2010), and Xue Hanqin (2010–). Among them, Shi Jiuyong was elected President of the Court in 2003, becoming the first Chinese President of the ICJ. Xue Hanqin became the first female Chinese judge of the ICJ in 2010 and was elected Vice-President of the Court in 2018.

As a responsible major country, China has actively participated in five advisory proceedings before the Court, and profoundly elaborated on China’s positions on major issues related to international law. Among these, China submitted written statements and appeared before the Court in the oral hearings in four advisory proceedings: Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in respect of Kosovo (2010) (written, oral), Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (2024) (written, oral), Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (2025) (written, oral), and Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (2025) (written, oral). In addition, China submitted a written statement in the advisory proceeding of Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (2019).