Reacting to recharacterisation strategies: Understanding the international Court of Justice’s reasoning in context

This contribution analyses the reasoning employed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court) in response to instances of dispute recharacterisation. While States may reframe disputes so to use a jurisdictional basis available to them, it is less intuitive why the Court might accept or reject such recharacterisations. This work aims to understand the ICJ’s decision-making through a contextual analysis, rather than making normative claims about its approach. It examines how, while recharacterisation provides States with opportunities to present their cases, it also gives the Court the chance to shape its function. To this end, the contribution is divided into two parts: the first part maps the tests and reasons used by the Court in relation to the determination of its jurisdiction, and the second contextualizes these decisions based on issue area, historical context, and procedural stage. The contribution concludes with remarks on potential future research directions on this topic.