Abstract

GUISADO LITTERIO, Tomás Mariano. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “CONTROVERSY” AND A “DISAGREEMENT” IN THE STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE. Rev. secr. Trib. perm. revis. [online]. 2019, vol.7, n.13, pp.120-136. ISSN 2304-7887.  https://doi.org/10.16890/rstpr.a7.n13.p120.

While the English text of the Statute of the International Court of Justice uses the term “dispute” generically, the Spanish version reserves the word “disagreement” for cases of interpretation of judgments, using the word “controversy” on other occasions. This distinction may imply different standards that the Court must use to determine the existence or not of a difference of sufficient degree among the parties to be competent in a case. The purpose of this article will be to unravel this issue, guided by what was resolved in the decision of the ICJ on the interpretation of the judgment rendered in the “Avena” case, and by other rulings of the Court and other courts, in the light of the general principles on treaty interpretation.

Keywords : International Court of Justice; International controversy; Statute of the International Court of Justice; Interpretation of treaties; Request for interpretation.

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