The Role of Domestic Courts in the Case Law of the International Court of Justice

Recent legal scholarship has argued that the traditional hierarchicalrelationship between international courts and domestic courtshas been replaced by a relationship characterized by such featuresas co-operation, communication and dialogue. This article examinesto what extent the practice of the International Court of Justicesupports that development. It concludes that the while the caselaw of the International Court of Justice remains largely rootedin the traditional perspective, in which decisions of domesticcourts are just facts, in recent cases we can see some evidencefor a more complementary relationship.