INTRODUCTION

The power of a judicial body to determine its own competence is an accepted principle of international adjudication and is a common feature in instruments governing international judicial procedure. Comparable clauses can be found in Art. 36(6) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in Art. 21 of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules of 1976, in Art. 9 of the International Law Commission's Model Rules on Arbitral Procedure of 1958, in Art. 16 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration of 1985, in Art. 6(2) of the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration of 1998 and in Art. 3(b) of the Institute of International Law's Articles on Arbitration between States, State Enterprises or State Entities and Foreign Enterprises of 1989.

In the Convention's drafting, the principle as such was not cast into doubt (History, Vol. I, pp. 186–190; Vol. II, pp. 76, 97, 206, 291/2, 406, 511), although there was some discussion on the details (see paras. 10, 11, 21, 43, 58, 75 infra). The Report of the Executive Directors to the Convention points out: