Reciprocity and the Jurisdiction of International Courts and Tribunals

Taking different understandings of reciprocity as a starting point, the chapter aims at identifying the actual position and relevance of reciprocity for the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals. Since reciprocity may be argued to permeate international law in general and the provision on the entire jurisdiction of international courts, it may be actually reduced to nothing more than a specific manifestation of the fundamental principle of consent. Particular attention is of course paid to a declaration under Art. 36 § 2 PCIJ/ICJ Statute, with its all dimensions (both the equality with regard to access to the Court (principle of ‘mutuality’ and the procedural equality)). In addition to that, a broader role may be played by reciprocity for individual international courts—as is reflected in a changing international judicial function (with special attention to human rights and international criminal courts and tribunals). Finally, one needs also to address the reciprocity among international courts as a means of (lacking?) coordination between international judicial bodies or as a reflection of the self-organizing international judicial system. Overall, the chapter will identify and evaluate the role reciprocity takes in the context of courts and tribunals with a view to answering the central question of this volume: whether reciprocity can be said to be a metalegal principle and whether the trend towards the protection of community interest has affected the position of reciprocity.