compromis

A compromis (also called a special agreement) is the instrument by which states formally agree to refer a specific existing dispute to an international court or arbitral tribunal. Unlike a compromissory clause embedded in a treaty (which commits parties in advance to arbitrate or adjudicate future disputes of a defined type), a compromis is concluded after a dispute has arisen and is tailored to that particular case.

The document typically sets out:

• the questions the tribunal is asked to decide;
• the applicable law (often Article 38 of the ICJ Statute, equity, or specified treaties);
• the composition of the tribunal or chamber;
• procedural rules, language, seat, and timetable;
• arrangements for costs and for compliance with the award or judgment.

Before the International Court of Justice, a compromis is one of the three principal bases of jurisdiction recognised under Article 36 of the ICJ Statute, alongside compromissory clauses and declarations under the optional clause. Cases brought by special agreement are notified jointly to the Court rather than by unilateral application, which usually signals that both parties accept jurisdiction and intend to comply with the outcome.

In Model UN and academic simulations of the ICJ, the term has a narrower, pedagogical meaning: the compromis is the case packet drafted by the conference secretariat, containing the agreed statement of facts, the legal questions submitted, and the documentary annexes that delegates representing the parties and judges must work from. Delegates are generally not permitted to introduce facts outside the compromis.

Historically, compromis have been used for both inter-state arbitration (e.g., under the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, which institutionalised the Permanent Court of Arbitration) and for chamber proceedings at the ICJ. They remain a flexible tool because the parties retain substantial control over the framing of the dispute and the procedure.