The early United Nations advisory opinions (1948-62)

FITZMAURICE, WRITING IN 1952, observed that the advisory practice of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was rather sparse.¹ Though the Court would remain less active in this regard than its predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice, it was by no means dormant. By 1962, the Court had received 12 advisory requests and delivered 13 advisory opinions. The jurisprudence that took shape during this period helped consolidate a particular conception of the international community, both as organised around a central institution—the United Nations (UN)—and as expressed through law-making performed by states in multilateral treaties.