ABSTRACT
The International Arrest Warrant case of the Congo v. Belgium at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is another unilateral attempt by one state to enforce universal justice norms but with an opposing outcome to the Pinochet case. The ICJ confi rmed the availability of state immunity for the Congo’s Foreign Minister Abdulaye Yerodia Ndombasi and ordered Belgium to cancel the arrest warrant it had issued to try him for international human rights abuses. This chapter analyses the judgment given by the ICJ and the judges’ separate opinions in light of the analysis’ central order and justice debate, expressed in the Congo’s claims to state immunity and Belgium’s attempt to exercise universal jurisdiction over international crimes.
