Questions of Procedure in the cases Costa Rica c. Nicaragua and Nicaragua c. Costa Rica before the International Court of Justice

Abstract

This paper is concerned with several questions of the procedure followed when litigation is conducted before the International Court of Justice, in the light of the judgment of the Court rendered on 16 December 2015, in two cases between the same parties that were joined, i. e. “Certain activities carried out by Nicaragua in the border area”, filed by Costa Rica against Nicaragua, and “Construction of a road in Costa Rica along the San Juan river”, filed by Nicaragua against Costa Rica. In this judgment important decisions by the ICJ can be found related to technical aspects of procedure such as joinder, counterclaims, provisional measures, remedies, evidence and proof of facts and costs. In several cases this decision introduces significant innovations into the Court’s previous case-law regarding litigation before it.

Keywords

• Corte Internacional de Justicia, litigio, proceso judicial, procedimiento, procedimientos incidentales, acumulación de casos, demanda reconvencional, medidas provisionales, reparación, evidencia y prueba, testigos y peritos, costas judiciales