Abstract
States have often invoked the clean hands doctrine (CHD) before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The prevailing practice among States is to invoke the CHD with the purpose of deeming the assertions of the opposing State as impermissible or challenging the jurisdiction of the court. While the ICJ has constantly refused to uphold any argument based on the CHD, there are judges whose individual opinions have upheld the validity of the CHD. A common trend that is witnessed in cases where the courts have agreed or rejected the applicability of the CHD is when the application is not based on any set parameters. There is no conclusive test for the application of the CHD. Moreover, the validity of the CHD is also questioned as it allows a State to commit internationally wrongful acts without any responsibility attached. This paper tries to give a new understanding of the CHD by laying down a concrete set of parameters that the ICJ should consider. It does so by taking into consideration the standards suggested for applying the CHD in the Certain Iranian Assets Case. Additionally, the paper explains why the application of the CHD is essential to uphold and respect the principles of State responsibility. It is thereafter concluded that since the traditional understanding of the CHD limited its application to the preliminary phase, the CHD needs to be shifted to the merits phase in light of the contours suggested by the authors. It should be noted that the paper is limited to the discussion of a test for the CHD and does not delve into the status or legality of the CHD on an international level.
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Recommended Citation
Alexander, Atul and Khanna, Tanay
(2025)
"The International Court of Justice and Clean Hands Doctrine: Shifting Approach With Reference to the Certain Iranian Assets Case,"
Indonesian Journal of International Law: Vol. 22:
No.
2, Article 6.
DOI: 10.17304/ijil.vol22.2.1892
Available at:
https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/ijil/vol22/iss2/6
