This book examines how the International Court of Justice ICJ reviews State behaviour through the prism of the standard of review It develops a novel rationale to support the ICJ s application of deferential standards of review as a judicial avoidance technique based on strategic considerations It then goes on to empirically assess all 31 decisions of the Court in which the standard of review was at issue showing how the Court determines that standard and answering the question of whether it varies its review intensity strategically As a result the book s original contribution is two fold: establishing a new rationale for judicial deference that can be applied to all international courts and tribunals ; and providing the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the ICJ s standards of review It will be beneficial to all scholars of the Court and those interested in judicial strategy
