The basis of the International Court of Justice’s approach to the rules governing the responsibility of non_state actors in international relations (case study: Nicaragua case verdict)

Responsibility of the non-state actors in international relations, an international controversy, should be examined and analyzed, given the increasing trend of regional proxy wars. This study has aimed to explain the International Court of Justice's fundamental approach to the rules governing the responsibility of non-state actors in international relations through the Nicaragua case verdict. To examine, effective control was investigated as the principle governing governments' international responsibility concerning the Nicaragua verdict as the basis for the issuance of the International Court of Justice's verdict. Furthermore, the ruling of the former Yugoslavia's Criminal Court, in conflict with the ruling of the court, will be discussed. Finally, the necessity of a change in the approach and the rules governing the international responsibility of governments will be debated. The results obtained from the present study have indicated that the ruling procedure of the court of justice has undergone certain changes after the Nicaragua case of 1989 regarding assignment of the actions of the non-state actors to the supporting government; otherwise, international law would not be responsive to the new legal incidents and questions, rendering it ineffective in serving justice with criteria such as effective control. Thus, to guarantee basic human rights, international law must pay special attention to other numerous progressive criteria, namely overall control; these criteria shall be theorized in this section of the international law. The Nicaragua verdict is based on a realistic theory regarding international relations and international law, which could be cited as a reliable source in its own time. However, nowadays, as idealistic theories regarding basic human rights gain power, it could be claimed that the basis of the issuance of the Nicaragua verdict is not effective in explaining and analyzing the responsibility of the supporting governments and non-state actors in the violation of the humanitarian obligations.