On the docket of the International Court of Justice at SunMUN XVI: two landmark cases underscoring the ripe tensions between sovereignty, obligation, and evolving international norms. 

In Hungary/Slovakia, the Court continues its deliberations on a decades-long environmental and legal impasse between Hungary and Slovakia over a barrage system on the Danube with the potential to revolutionize the economies of both states. In its first sitting at SunMUN XV, the Court narrowly decided its jurisdiction, but the heart of the dispute remains unresolved. When does the preservation of shared natural resources supersede bilateral agreements? What relevance does a state’s responsibility to its citizens have in the maintenance of controversial international obligations? 

In United Kingdom v. Iran, the Court considers the increasingly postcolonial world order of the mid-twentieth century. The United Kingdom has challenged Iran over its 1951 nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, decrying the move as a flagrant violation of international law. Does the Court have jurisdiction? What is the legal legacy of empire? What are the limits of sovereign state action?