By an Order dated 17 July 2025, the Court fixed 19 January 2026 and 20 July 2026 as the respective time-limits for the filing of the Memorial of Belarus and the Counter-Memorial of Lithuania addressing the question of the jurisdiction of the Court and that of the admissibility of the Application in the case concerning Alleged Smuggling of Migrants (Lithuania v. Belarus). 

By an Order dated 17 July 2025, the Court fixed 2 December 2025 and 17 April 2026 as the respective time-limits for the filing of the Memorial of France and the Counter-Memorial of Iran in the Kohler and Paris (France v. Islamic Republic of Iran) case.  

On 23 July 2025, HE Mr Philémon Yang, President of the 79th session of United Nations General Assembly, paid a visit to the Court. During his visit, he met with HE Judge Iwasawa Yuji, President of the Court, Members of the Court and HE Mr Philippe Gautier, Registrar. Mr Yang also attended the swearing-in ceremony of HE Judge Daifallah Mahmoud Hmoud and the reading of the Advisory Opinion of the Court on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change.

On 23 July 2025, the Court delivered its Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change.

The Court will hold a public sitting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday 23 July 2025, during which HE Judge Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud, a new Member of the Court elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations on 27 May 2025, will be officially sworn in.

On 17 July 2025, a ceremony for the unveiling of a bronze bust of the late Judge José Gustavo Guerrero, last President of the Permanent Court of International Justice and first President of the International Court of Justice, was organized at the Court. HE Ms Alexandra Hill Tinoco, Minister for Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, accompanied by HE Mr Agustín Vásquez Gómez, Ambassador of El Salvador to the Netherlands, donated the gift to the Court on behalf of their government. HE President Iwasawa participated in the ceremony alongside HE Judge Nemer Caldeira Brant and HE Philippe Gautier, ICJ Registrar. The event was preceded by a meeting with Minister Hill Tinoco.

The public hearings on the request for the indication provisional measures filed by Equatorial Guinea in the case concerning Request relating to the Return of Property Confiscated in Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France) were held on 15 July 2025. The decision of the Court will be delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course.

The Court will hold a public sitting on Tuesday 15 July 2025 at 10 a.m., during which HE Judge Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan), a new Member of the Court elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations on 27 May 2025, will be officially sworn in. The sitting will be followed by public hearings on the Request for the indication of provisional measures filed by Equatorial Guinea in the case concerning Request relating to the Return of Property Confiscated in Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France). 

On 7 July 2025, HE Paul Lam, Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, paid a visit to the Court. Mr Lam was welcomed by HE President Iwasawa, HE Judge Xue and the Deputy-Registrar, HE Jean-Pelé Fomété. During the meeting, Mr Lam expressed his interest in strengthening collaboration with the Court with a view to fostering capacity building and promoting knowledge of public international law in the Asia-Pacific region.  

The Court will deliver its Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change on 23 July 2025 at 3 p.m. (The Hague).

On 3 July 2025, Equatorial Guinea filed in the Registry of the Court a Request for the indication of provisional measures in the case concerning the Request relating to the Return of Property Confiscated in Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France). 

On 26 June 2025, President Iwasawa gave a speech at the informal plenary meeting of the General Assembly commemorating the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations.

By an Order of 19 June 2025, the Court fixed 19 January 2026 and 19 August 2026 , respectively, as the time-limits for the filing of the Memorial of Iran and the Counter-Memorial of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom in the case concerning the Appeal relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Islamic Republic of Iran v. Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom).

On 19 June 2025, HE Mr Selçuk Ünal, Ambassador of Türkiye to the Netherlands, presented a gift to the Court on behalf of his country to President Iwasawa: framed traditional Turkish tiles.  The tiles were manufactured in the historic town of İznik, which has been the center of Turkish ceramic tile production since the 16th century.  

HE Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf will resign as a Member of the Court with effect from 30 September 2025. 

The General Assembly and Security Council of the UN today elected Mr Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan) as a Member of the Court with immediate effect.

The Court announces the publication of the 2023 edition of its Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders, which includes all decisions rendered by the Court in 2023. 

The Court announces the publication of its latest Yearbook, which covers the period from 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023. 

On 22 May 2025, a delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice visited the ICJ, meeting with the President, the Vice-President, several Judges, and the Deputy-Registrar of the Court. The aim of the visit was to foster institutional collaboration and to exchange best practices.

On 19 May 2025, Lithuania filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against Belarus with regard to a dispute which, according to the Application, concerns alleged breaches by Belarus of its obligations under the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, in relation to the large-scale smuggling of irregular migrants from Belarus into Lithuania.

On 19 May 2025, the Court delivered its Judgment on the merits in the case concerning Land and Maritime Delimitation and Sovereignty over Islands (Gabon/Equatorial Guinea).

On 16 May 2025, France filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against Iran with regard to a dispute which, according to the Application, concerns “serious and repeated breaches by Iran of its obligations under the [Vienna] Convention [on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963] in the context of the arrest, detention and trial of several French nationals in Iran”. 

The Court will deliver its Judgment on the merits in the case concerning Land and Maritime Delimitation and Sovereignty over Islands (Gabon/Equatorial Guinea) on Monday 19 May 2025 at 3 p.m. (The Hague). 

On 8 May 2025, the President of the Court, HE Mr Iwasawa Yuji, addressed the International Law Commission at its 76th session. 

The Court today delivered its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Sudan in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates). 

The public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory have concluded. The Court will now begin its deliberation. Its advisory opinion will be delivered at a public sitting, the date of which will be announced in due course.

On 1 May 2025, the Court rendered its Order on Guyana’s Request for the indication of provisional measures in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela).

The Court will deliver its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Sudan in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates) on Monday 5 May 2025 at 3 p.m. (The Hague).  

On 24 April 2025, Serbia filed a declaration of intervention under Article 63 of the Statute of the Court in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in Sudan (Sudan v. United Arab Emirates).