The ICJ is mainly responsible for settling disputes between states over matters of international law. Some of its recent cases have concerned human rights. In November 2019, Gambia brought a case under the Genocide Convention against Myanmar regarding alleged genocide against ethnic Rohingya. In June 2023, the Netherlands and Canada filed a case against Syria alleging it is violating the UN Convention Against Torture.

Many governments around the world have denounced the Taliban’s full-scale attack on the rights of women and girls. “While the International Criminal Court is investigating Taliban atrocity crimes, the ICJ offers governments that have expressed their solidarity with Afghan women another practical way to put Taliban abuses under judicial scrutiny,” Human Rights Watch says.