Symposium: A Court for the World? Trust in the ICJ 50 years after South West Africa

On November 30, 2016, the Asser Institute will host a symposium on "A Court for the World? Trust in the ICJ 50 years after South West Africa." The program is here. Here's the idea:

The ICJ's 1966 decision on the merits of the South West Africa cases was widely perceived as a plain disaster. It cast the Court into a deep crisis and alienated newly independent states further from the Court. It all but destroyed the wavering trust that they had placed in the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. A judgment of such magnitude warrants renewed attention on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. In particular, it invites inquiries into the Court’s representativeness and its appeal in the world. The present symposium reminds of the South West Africa cases and asks about the Court’s past and present capacity to induce trust. More specifically, it explores questions of the Court’s representativeness and of its responsiveness to the aspirations of different parts of the world.