The fifteen permanent judges are elected from a list of persons nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The election process is set out in Articles 4-12 of the ICJ statute Generally, five members of the Security Council of the United Nations always have a judge from their country. These countries are China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
In some case, the ICJ allows Ad hoc judges. Thus, the countries in dispute have a right to nominate one judge each for that particular case, if desired. This right is not available if that country already has a judge of its nationality in the ICJ. Thus, sometimes, instead of fifteen, seventeen judges may be deciding a case.
There are many rules, which lay down the qualifications and conduct of the judges of the ICJ.
Generally, all the judges of the ICJ sit together to hear and decide any matter. However, sometimes smaller chambers of three to five judges hear and decide a case. Such chambers may be for special types of cases. Sometimes, the ICJ sets up ad hoc chambers to hear and decide particular disputes.
While deciding the case, the ICJ applies the principles of international law. It also uses the laws of the civilized world. This may be the civil and criminal law of major countries. It may also refer to legal writings, law books, and earlier decisions while deciding any matter.
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a movement from 1857 until 15 August 1947, when India got its independence from the British Raj.
Vasco da Gama of Portugal had discovered a sea route to India. He had reached Kozhikode (Calicut, Kerala) in 1498. After this, many Europeans started coming to India for trading. They made their offices and forts in various parts of India. The British East India Company became the major force in India. The Company's troops led by Robert Clive defeated the rulers of Bengal in 1757. This battle became famous as the Battle of Plassey. That was the beginning of British rule, known as the British Raj, in India. In 1764, the Battle of Buxar was won by the English forces. After "this", the British got control over Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed many laws to help the British East India Company. The , , and the Charter Act of 1813 were designed to help trade with India.
Before the First War of Independence (1857), Indians in different parts of India had revolted against the British. Many such of the revolts and armed struggles had taken place in this Some examples include:
India's First War of Independence (by this name later a book was published by V.D Savarkar) was a revolt of Indian soldiers and people (rulers and peasants) against British rule. Historians had used the terms like the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny to describe this event. The rebellion by Indian troops of the British Raj started in May 1857 and continued until December 1858. Many reasons had combined to result in this rebellion.
The British rulers continued to forcibly take regions ruled by Indians and made these regions part of the British Raj. They did not give any respect to old royal houses of India like the Mughals and the Peshwa. They also made the Indian soldiers of their army use a special type of cartridge (immediate cause of the rebel). The soldiers had to open the cartridges with their teeth before loading them into their guns. The cartridges supposedly used cow and pig fat. For Hindus the cow is a sacred animal and they do not eat beef. Similarly, Muslims do not eat pork. Thus, the use of these cartridges made soldiers of both the religions turn against the British. Although the British tried to replace the cartridges, the feelings against them stayed.
Rebellion broke out when a soldier called Mangal Pandey attacked a British sergeant and wounded an adjutant. General Hearsey ordered another Indian soldier to arrest Mangal Pandey but he refused. Later the British arrested Mangal Pandey and the other Indian soldier. The British killed both by hanging them.
At the beginning the British were slow to respond. Then they took very quick action with heavy forces. They brought their regiments from the Crimean War to India. They also redirected many regiments that were going to China from India. The British forces reached Delhi, and they surrounded the city from 1st July 1857 until 31st August 1857. Street-to-street fights broke out between the British troops and the Indians. Ultimately, they took control of Delhi. The massacre at Kanpur (July 1857) and the siege of Lucknow (June to November 1857) were also important. The last important battle was at Gwalior in June 1858 in which the Rani of Jhansi was killed. With this, the British had practically suppressed the rebellion. However, some guerrilla fighting in many places continued until early in 1859 and Tantia Tope was captured and executed until April 1859.
India's First War of Independence was a major event in the history of modern India. The Parliament of the United Kingdom withdrew the right of the British East India Company to rule India in November 1858. The United Kingdom started ruling India directly through its representative called the Viceroy of India(earlier governor-general of India). It made India a part of the British Empire. They promised "the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India," equal treatment under the British law.
The British sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal Emperor, out of India, and kept him in Rangoon (now called Yangon in Burmese), Burma where he died in 1862. The Mughal dynasty, which had ruled India for about four hundred years, ended with his death.
The British also took many steps to employ Indian higher castes and rulers into the government. They stopped taking the lands of the remaining princes and rulers of India. They stopped interference in religious matters. They started employing Indians in the civil services but at lower levels. They increased the number of British soldiers, and allowed only British soldiers to handle artillery.
The period following India's First War of Independence was an important period in the Indian independence movement. Many leaders emerged at the national and provincial levels, and the Indians became more aware of their rights. Social movements also helped in shaping people's outlook, tried for social changes, and tried to remove bad social practices and evils like illiteracy and caste system. During this period, many social and religious leaders worked to inspire the Indian society. They included men like Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna , Sri Aurobindo, Subramanya Bharathy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Rabindranath Tagore and Dadabhai Naoroji. They spread the message of self-confidence, removing of social evils, and making India free from domination of foreign power. Lokmanya Tilak was one such leader who was not very modest in his views. The British arrested him. In the court he declared: "Swaraj (independence) is my birthright". This concept of Swaraj later became a main policy and philosophy of India's independence movement in the following decades until India became independent.
In 1885, at the suggestion of Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, seventy-three Indian delegates met in Bombay. They founded the Indian National Congress. The delegates represented educated Indians in professions such as law, teaching, and journalism. A few years before, Dadabhai Naoroji had already formed the East India Association. It merged with the Indian National Congress to form a bigger party.