a study to its draft statute and rules, with specific reference to the International Court of Justice and principles of Islamic Shariah
University of Glasgow
1999
Thesis (Ph.D.)
1999
The present thesis deals with the projected Arab Court of Justice (ACJ) as a regional court, expected to be created within the League of Arab States system. Chapter one deals mainly with the basic structure of the League of Arab States itself, its membership, its organs, the settlement of disputes, and the reasons that are delaying the creation of the ACJ and the role it will be expected to play in settling inter-Arab disputes. In the second chapter comprehensive information on the function of the judicial power in Islamic Shariah is presented, including the status of judges in Islam, their appointment, qualifications, independence and other issues related to them. Chapter three concentrates on the organisation of the projected ACJ, comparing its draft Statute with the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and other regional international courts. The chapter will also show how far the Arab draftsmen have been influenced by principles and rules of Islamic Shariah, especially in matters relating to the qualification of judges. Furthermore, the chapter will discuss other points related to the organisation of the bench such as nomination of candidates, system of election, constituting chambers, appointing ad hoc judges etc. The fourth chapter explains in detail at the level of theory as well as of practice the role of Islamic Shariah as a source to be applied by the projected ACJ. The chapter points to the need to discuss the origins and fundamental conceptions of Islamic Shariah as a law capable to be applied by the projected ACJ. Chapter five continues with a discussion of the jurisdiction of the ACJ, and makes detailed reference to the concepts of jurisdiction ratione personae, ratione materiae and the function of the ACJ to give advisory opinions. The thesis considers whether the Arab drafters have developed the above terms or have simply adopted them as they exist in the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The conclusions summarise the findings of the Thesis, and are accompanied by some critical remarks.