Court considers Nato bombing case

The International Court of Justice has begun hearings to decide if it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Serbia and Montenegro against Nato for the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo crisis. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court has a dual role: to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorised international organs and agencies.