The Growing Complexity of the International Court of Justice’s Self-Citation Network

Using state-of-the-art information extraction, this article identifies 1,865 references in judgments of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) between 1948 and 2013 to its own decisions or those of its predecessor. We find that the ICJ’s self-citation network becomes increasingly complex. Citations are used more frequently, and precedents grow more diverse. Two drivers fuel this development. First, subject matter concentration clusters citations in ‘classic’ international law areas as the ICJ places increased emphasis on the legacy, expertise and predictability of its ‘settled jurisprudence’ in asserting its role among competing adjudicatory venues. Second, issue diversification expands citations as disputants increasingly craft their arguments around precedent, making ICJ litigation more common law-like. This translates into more complex litigation as precedent is predominantly used argumentatively to affect outcomes rather than ritualistically to pay tribute to past decisions. Although the growth of citations is an institutional achievement underscoring the Court’s continued relevance, it also creates new access-to-justice barriers.