Enacting and developing international environmental law - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 74

international law associations, do not create international law but can clarify
and specify the legal status and content of rules developed by states. These are
called material sources because they provide supplementary evidence of what
the law is without actually being formal sources themselves. Judicial decisions
are by far the most important secondary source of law. Although the decisions
of the International Court of Justice are formally binding on the parties of a
dispute only (and in each dispute only), the UN International Court of Justice
plays a crucial role in the development of international law (including inter-
national environmental law).
In earlier periods of history, the research fi ndings of individual, prominent
international academics were signifi cant in the specifi cation of international
law. Today, the infl uence of academics is mostly channelled through the work
of committees of international organizations such as the International Law
Association (ILA).
Courts of arbitration used to be more signifi cant, as before the Second
World War the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), established
in 1922, was the only one of its kind. During the past 20 years, the decisions
by permanent international courts of justice have become more important -
especially the decisions of the International Court of Justice - even though the
use of arbitration to resolve international commercial disputes has increased
enormously. 27 Today there are numerous global standing courts (for example,
the International Criminal Court and International Tribunal for the Law of
the Sea) and they are called upon to make signifi cant decisions much more
frequently than before. The essential difference between a court of arbitration
and a permanent court of justice is that the parties can appoint the judges in
courts of arbitration, while courts of justice have permanent (though some-
times rotating) posts for judges.
International courts of justice
International courts of justice, unlike courts of arbitration, are permanent (the
exceptions are the ad hoc criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, for
example) and settle disputes between states on the basis of international law. The
fi rst such international court was the Permanent Court of International Justice
founded in 1922.
Today, there is one general international court that processes all kinds of
legal disputes between states: the UN International Court of Justice; and one
court that processes marine law disputes between states: the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (although in disputes relating to seabed min-
eral operations the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the company that
applied for permission to exploit seabed minerals can participate). The members
of the WTO can also take their trade disputes to the organization's dispute
settlement which includes both a panel process and the right to appeal against a
panel decision.