The ICJ and Jus Cogens through the Lens of Feminist Legal Methods

This article explores the persistent gap in receptivity to feminist approaches to public international law within international institutions, using the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as an example. The article argues that the ICJ, as the main judicial organ of the United Nations, remains non-receptive to feminist analyses of public international law. Mainstream public international law, therefore, still has a long way to go before we can affirm that feminist critiques of public international law are fully acknowledged and being addressed. In order to defend this argument, the article analyses the ICJ’s position on the notion of jus cogens, including the dissenting and separate opinions of individual judges, through the lens of feminist legal methods.