ICC and ICJ

International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are two institutions that are located in The Hague, Netherlands and are focused on human rights and humanitarian law.

They are almost similar in most cases but the only difference is their jurisdiction.

ICC

International Criminal Court (ICC) is a permanent tribunal where individuals are prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Basically, ICC focuses on the human rights and humanitarian law -the two bodies of international law that deal with treatment of individuals. The Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Darfur (Sudan) and the Republic of Kenya are the five places where the ICC investigates. Apart from being legally and functionally independent from the United Nations (UN),ICC has jurisdictions including crimes with the jurisdiction of the court, territorial jurisdiction, temporal jurisdiction and complimentary. If you are not a resident of a country that is a part of UN then you need to go to ICC for further proceedings.

ICJ

International Court of Justice (ICJ) which can also be called the World Court is the primary judicial wing of the United Nations which settles legal disputes submitted by states. ICJ also gives advisory and opinions on legal questions that are forwarded by duly authorized international organs, agencies and the UN General Assembly. Cases before the ICJ follow standard procedures in which the case is lodged by the applicant who files a written memorial setting out the basis of the Court’s jurisdiction and the merits of its claim. If the country you belong is part of the UN you can go directly to ICJ.

Why is U.N. helping out Sudan, Congo, Uganda if they’re not one of the U.N. countries?