The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ in the United Nations, is meant to exercise the function of a « world tribunal », but actually, it sees its role depend largely on the States’ good will to acknowledge its ability. Since the last few years, a recrudescence of recourse to this jurisdiction to settle conflicts in inter-State relations has been observed, the recourse intervening frequently for matters directly linked to the question of the use of armed force. These demands do allow the ICJ to define more precisely its jurisprudence in that field, yet this jurisprudence remains incomplete, as most of the demands have not resulted in a fundamental judgment. – Summary AFRI-2002