Exhaustion of Local Remedies and Mixed Claims in International Law: An Analysis of International Court of Justice Jurisprudence

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The rule of the exhaustion of local remedies serves as an indispensable prerequisite for the admissibility of claims invoked in various fields of international law, including the law of diplomatic protection and international human rights law. A State may invoke the responsibility of another State for injuries suffered by its nationals by exercising diplomatic protection, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.  Where the legal basis for an application instituting proceedings is predicated upon injury to both the direct rights of the State and the derived rights of its nationals, the characterization of the claim becomes complex. In such instances of "mixed claims," the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (the Court, ICJ) applies a "preponderance" test to determine whether the claim is essentially founded upon an injury to the State or to its nationals.  Should the claim be determined to relate preponderantly to the interests of the national, its admissibility before the Court is contingent upon the prior exhaustion of local remedies, a fundamental condition for the exercise of diplomatic protection.  This article analyses the approach of the ICJ to the exhaustion of local remedies rule, with a particular focus on its jurisprudence concerning mixed claims, to clarify the underlying rationale for the Court’s determinations on admissibility.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  • de Vattel E, The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law Applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and of Sovereigns vol III (Carnegie Institution 1916) (trans CG Fenwick)
  • Garcia-Amador FV, Sohn LB and Baxter RR, Recent Codification of the Law of State Responsibility for Injuries to Aliens (Oceana Publication 1974)
  • Rubins N and Sabahi B, Investor-State Arbitration (OUP 2019)
  • Whiteman M, Digest of International Law vol 8 (US Department of State 1967)
  • Abedini A, ‘Breach of the Obligation Arising from the Adoption of Inconsistent Domestic Law: Analysis of the Judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Case of Certain Iranian Assets’ (2024) 41 International Law Review 11
  • Adler, Matthew H, ‘The Exhaustion of the Local Remedies Rule After the International Court of Justice’s Decision in Elsi’ (1990) 39 International & Comparative Law Quarterly 641
  • Azizi S, ‘The Individual Opinions of the ICJ Judges in the Certain Iranian Assets Case: Exclusion of Bank Markazi from the Scope of the Treaty of Amity’ (2024) 41 International Law Review 157
  • Cancado Trindade AA, ‘Exhaustion of Local Remedies in International Law and the Role of National Courts’ (1978) 17 Archiv des Völkerrechts 367
  • Corten O, ‘The Notion of “Reasonable” in International Law: Legal Discourse, Reason and Contradictions’ (1999) 48 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 621
  • Khakpour E K and Mohebi M, ‘Exhaustion of Local Remedies Rule in Investment Lawsuits with an Emphasis on the Denial of Justice Lawsuit in Loewen v United States of America Case’ (2023) 40 International Law Review 61
  • Shahsavari E, ‘The Status of Clean Hands Doctrine in the Certain Iranian Assets Case’ (2024) 41 International Law Review 121
  • Tohidi AR and Mirakhorli F, ‘ICJ’s Approach to the Objection of the United States Regarding Compliance with the Exhaustion of Local Remedy Rule: A Focus on the Certain Iranian Assets Case’ (2024) 41 International Law Review 101
  • Wallace DJ, ‘Fair and Equitable Treatment and Denial of Justice: From Chattin v Mexico and Loewen v US’ (2005) NAFTA, Bilateral Treaties, and Customary International Law 669
  • Zamani SG and Shafiei Z, ‘The International Responsibility of the United States of America for the Violations of the Treaty of Amity in the Framework of the Judgment of March 30, 2023, of the International Court of Justice’ (2024) 41 International Law Review 205
  • Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (adopted 18 March 1965, entered into force 14 October 1966) 575 UNTS 159
  • European Convention on Human Rights (adopted 4 November 1950, entered into force 3 September 1953) 213 UNTS 221
  • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171
  • Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights (Iran–United States) (signed 15 August 1955, entered into force 16 June 1957) 284 UNTS 93
  • Ahmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v Democratic Republic of the Congo) (Preliminary Objections) [2007] ICJ Rep 582
  • Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Ukraine v Russian Federation) (Preliminary Objections) [2019] ICJ Rep 558
  • Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v Belgium) [2002] ICJ Rep 3
  • Bennett et al v Islamic Republic of Iran et al 923 F.3d 1096 (DC Cir 2019)
  • Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America) [2023] ICJ Rep 123
  • Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America) (Application Instituting Proceedings, 14 June 2016)
  • Certain Iranian Assets (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America) (Counter-Memorial submitted by the United States of America, 14 October 2019)
  • Continental Shelf (Tunisia/Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) [1982] ICJ Rep 18
  • Elettronica Sicula S.p.A. (ELSI) (United States of America v Italy) [1989] ICJ Rep 15
  • Elettronica Sicula S.p.A. (ELSI) (United States of America v Italy) (Counter-Memorial; Reply; Rejoinder, 1987) ICJ Pleadings
  • Interhandel (Switzerland v United States of America) (Preliminary Objections) [1959] ICJ Rep 6
  • Interhandel (Switzerland v United States of America) (Application Instituting Proceedings, 1957) ICJ Pleadings
  • Mavrommatis Palestine Concessions (Greece v United Kingdom) [1924] PCIJ Ser B No 3
  • Panevezys-Saldutiskis Railway (Estonia v Lithuania) [1939] PCIJ Ser A/B No 76
  • United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran (United States of America v Iran) [1980] ICJ Rep 3
  • Viviana Gallardo and others (Decision of 13 November 1981) Inter-American Court of Human Rights Series A No G 101/81
  • Weinstein et al v Islamic Republic of Iran et al 831 F.3d 470 (DC Cir 2016)
  • Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights v Zimbabwe (2009) AHRLR 268 (ACHPR 2009)
  • Ago R, ‘Sixth Report on State Responsibility’ (1977) UN Doc A/CN.4/302 and Add.1-3
  • ILC, ‘Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection’ in ‘Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of its Fifty-eighth Session’ (2006) UN Doc A/61/10

Demirkol B, ‘Exhaustion of Local Remedies’ (Jus Mundi, 8 October 2025) https://jusmundi.com/en/document/publication/en-exhaustion-of-local-remedies

Iranian Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 3, Issue 2
December 2025

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics