"ICJ Ruling on Gaza: South Africa's Stand Against Israel"

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has indicated provisional measures in a case brought by South Africa against Israel concerning allegations of genocide related to the ongoing armed conflict in Gaza, relying on the theory of erga omnes partes standing. This case demonstrates procedural issues that erga omnes partes standing might cause in a Court whose procedure is strictly consent-based and tailored to the resolution of bilateral disputes between directly affected parties. The structure of the case raises questions about the absence of an essential third party, the impossibility of counter-claims and counter-cases, and the one-sided impact of orders and judgments. One way of resolving these issues would be by denying non-specifically-injured states standing as long as directly injured states are generally in a position to bring the case itself even if that would require them to accept the Court’s jurisdiction first.