If there are any further questions or issues that you or the delegates wish to clarify, feel free to contact me at

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1 To those whom this may concern, My name is Grace Hua, chair of the International Court of Justice. This year, we have decided to change the Rules of Procedure for this committee in order to simulate a more realistic environment of the International Court. With VMUN less than a month away, there are some essential changes to the ICJ committee that delegates should be aware of in their preparation for the upcoming conference. Most notably, there will be 4 countries in the committee who will take on a heavier responsibility in preparation. As in real court, there is a prosecuting party and a defending party for a crime; the ICJ will have an abridged version of this process. At the beginning of Topic A and Topic B, there will be 8-minute opening statements made by the prosecuting country as well as the defending country. The specifics of this are outlined in the ICJ Rules of Procedures which can be found on the VMUN website. The prosecuting/defending countries for each topic are as follows: TOPIC A HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONGO Prosecutor: United Kingdom Defendant: Democratic Republic of Congo TOPIC B WAR TIME CRIMES IN SYRIA Prosecutor: United States Defendant: Syria If delegates from your school have been assigned to any of these countries, please pass along the information outlined above. Their preparation is crucial to the success of ICJ and of VMUN. Furthermore, we have made a change to the position paper system in the ICJ committee. Instead of writing position papers, delegates will be writing case briefs in the true spirit of being a judge at court. Case briefs are expected for each topic and they should each be around 1 page in length. The brief should summarize the facts of the case, the issues at hand, and what applicable rules of law should be considered. This should be a relatively unbiased paper (unless you are acting as the prosecutor or defendant) as delegates are not representing a country, but rather representing a judicial position. If there are any further questions or issues that you or the delegates wish to clarify, feel free to contact me at ghua20@mychs.ca. Sincerely, Grace Hua International Court of Justice Vancouver Model United Nations 2015

2 Foreward International Court of Justice Rules of Procedure The international Court of Justice at VMUN 2015 will follow standard rules of procedure with some minor alterations. In reality, the court does not abide by this procedure, but to run the court in its actual form would be logistically challenging in the setting of our conference. The few changes the dais has made are designed to make the experience as realistic as possible, while not obstructing productive debate. Positions The committee will consist of justices, prosecutors, and defendants. Every topic will have a country representing the prosecutor, and a country representing the defendant. If your country is not involved as one of the parties above, you will be serving as a justice as a member of the jury. The Prosecutor: As the country representing the prosecutor, it is your duty to present the details of the case being debated at hand. Like any prosecution team would for a civil or criminal case on a national level, the prosecutor for the ICJ takes on many of the same roles. You must clearly outline in your opening statement the precise crimes that defendant is being charged with. In order to substantiate your case and the arguments being made, it is also your responsibility to present all evidence as to why the defense is guilty. The fundamental success of this committee lies in your hands and it is your role to ensure that the committee understands the basics of trial at hand. As the prosecution, it is in your rights to raise points of information during the defendant s speech. For the sake of involving everybody in the committee, you will also partake in the debate regarding the verdict of the trial, acting as justices but fighting for your own side to win. Keep in mind that you are prosecuting on behalf of your country, so you should be representing your country s wishes and your country s viewpoints rather than your own. The Defendant: As the country representing the defendant, it is your responsibility to face up to allegations brought forward by the prosecution. You main goal is simple: to prove that you are not guilty. Like the prosecutor, you have the duty to bring forth arguments outlining why you are innocent, and you must substantiate all arguments made by presenting evidence to the justices and jury. Essentially, the defendant has two roles: to defend against the attacks made by prosecution, and to raise constructive points on your own. Your speech should thus be comprised of 2 parts, a portion for refutation and a portion for constructive speaking. As the defense, it is in your rights raise points of information during the prosecutor s speech. For the sake of involving everybody in the committee, you will also partake in the debate regarding the verdict of the trial, acting as justices but fighting for your own side to win. Keep in mind that you are defending on behalf of your country, so you should be representing your country s wishes and your country s viewpoints

3 rather than your own. The Justices: The justices make up the decision-making organ of the International Court of Justice. Your role is to come to a decision on whether the defendant is guilty or not. Debate amongst the justices will occur with standard rules of procedures. You will also be responsible for a cross-examination period with first the prosecution and the defense. As a justice, you are intended to be an unbiased interpreter of international law. Contrary to most committees, you will not be representing a government s interests. Having said that, note that your country s philosophy of law can affect your position. As the judges of the ICJ reign from different nations, they have all been educated by different legal cultures. In other words, you must remain objective when it comes to the facts, but your country s perspective can influence the interpretation of those facts. Note that it is also perfectly acceptable to advocate that the case at hand is not within the court s jurisdiction. Rules Governing Debate 1) Opening Statements: Opening statements mark the beginning of debate on each of the topics. There will be two opening statements given, one by the defense and one by the prosecution. Each speech should last no more than 8 minutes. These time frames are set in stone for the initiation of each individual topic and cannot be changed by voting. During this time, points of information are allowed from the opposing council but not from the jury members. 2) Points of Information: During each opening statement, the opposing council has the right to stand up at any point to ask a POI during that speech except for the first and last minute of the allotted speaking time, which is considered to be protected time. Points of information can range from questions about clarification to direct refutation on a point that the speaker has just made. Essentially, this tool allows the opposition to directly poke holes in the speaker s speech. To make a point of information, you must stand up from your chair and wait to be taken. You are only allowed to speak when the speaker takes your point, but it is in the speaker s right to wave you down, as he/she will often do at that given time. It should be noted, however, that both the prosecutor and the defendant are required to take at least 2 POI s during their speech. 3) Cross-Examination Period: There will be two 10-minute cross-examination session following opening statements. This is the opportunity for jury members to ask the prosecutor/defendant any questions they might have and point out flaws in the argument presented. First, the prosecutor will come to the stand for a ten minute cross-examination session. Following that, the defendant will come to the stand for his/her cross-examination period. Only justices of the jury are allowed to partake in questioning during this time. 4) Deliberation: Following the cross-examinations, the committee will go straight into deliberation mode. The majority of committee sessions will be surrounding deliberation in which members of the ICJ will follow standard rules of procedure with moderated caucuses, unmoderated caucuses, etc. Speaking time and topic will be set out by members of the committee who motion for said policies. There will be no primary speaker s list.

4 Personal Pronouns As you are an individual justice, rather than a representative of a state, you may use personal pronouns in committee session. If you did not do so in your position paper, don t worry! It will not be held against you in awards consideration. Judgment Writing & Voting Beyond a simple ruling, judgments and advisory opinions are multi-faceted documents that provide ideas to help resolve the issue at hand. This section will introduce you to the contents and format of these documents. Both contentious cases and advisory cases will have the same general format. A judgment before it has been submitted to the dais for review should be referred to as a working paper. After it has been approved it is draft-judgment, and upon passage it becomes a judgment (for advisory cases the same naming system applies, simply replace judgment with advisory opinion ). Sections I. Historical Background/Statement of Facts This section is similar to the preambulatory section of a standard MUN resolution. It should establish the historical background and facts of the case. It should be at least a page in length, as it will establish the basis behind your ruling and operative clause sections. This section should be written in paragraph form. II. General Conclusion This is where the overarching ruling should be made. It outlines the general position that the Court has taken on the case. Note that particular details and intricacies can be provided and discussed in the operative clause section. This section should be written in only one or two paragraphs. III. Operative clauses Here you will detail the actions that the court has ruled should be taken. This is the substantial part of the judgment. It goes beyond the ruling, and offers the ideas that will actually resolve the topic. The role of the court is more than just to simply make a black and white decision on which party is in the right and which is in the wrong. The formatting for this section should be as follows. Label each clause with numbers: 1. For these reasons, the Court, (Operative Clause) body text Voting

5 The court passes only one judgment per topic. Voting procedure functions as it does in any other standard VMUN committee. Submitting a separate opinion (following voting and the successful passage of a judgment): The justices who do not agree with the passed judgment, or who believe important clauses were left out, may submit separate opinions. These can be partly concurring and partly dissenting, or completely dissenting. They are written in the same format as judgments but simply lack the entire court s support. After the first judgment has been passed, the dais will ask whether any justices wish to append separate opinions. It is at this point that your separate opinion can be officially recognized and noted at the bottom of the passed judgment. This process allows justices to rationalize and expand upon why they did not support the ruling.