The Legal Character of the Optional Clause System

Abstract

In international legal writing the therm "optional clause" is construed to mean Art. 36. para. 2. of the Statue of the International Court of Justice, which allows the states parties to unilaterally declare that they recognize as compulsory, in relation to any other state accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiciton of the Court in specified categories of legal disputes. The above mentioned declarations from a special system called the system of complusory jurisdiction. The legal character of the optional clause and the system of complusory jurisdiction deserves attentionnot only because it embodies a theoretical issue, but also because it is of great practical relevance, considering that the answares to be given to a number of important matters associated with declarations of acceptance -such as the rules governing withdrawal or termination of declarations or its admissibility, the legal effects of reservation and restrictions attached to declarations, interpretation of declaration- depend on how one looks on the legal character of the clause. One trend will emphasize the unilaterial nature of the system of clause, while the other will conceive of the resultant relations as between states accepting the compulsory juridiction of the Court as a contractula relationship.