No spill up – lack of global support

Despite their evidence in support for reparations for postcolonial states, the activities of these U.N. groups have not been able to convince all U.N. member states that reparations need to be issued. What they have succeeded in doing is to provide reliable information on the importance of reparations as one important element in addressing the problems that have emerged as a result of colonialism. This information has helped to inform the debate on reparations both within and outside of the U.N. One branch of the U.N. that, to date, has yet to be fully utilized in order to help answer the question of colonial reparations, is the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ represents the judiciary body of the United Nations and works to settle legal disputes between member states as well as advises the main UN bodies on international legal standards. In this forum, individual postcolonial states could bring a legal case against a former colonial power, as long as they are both members of the UN, for damages occurred under colonial rule. After examining the international legal precedence and evidence for the case, the court would then issue a binding judgement that would permanently settle the dispute between the two countries.23 The drawback to such an approach is that because the UN has no mechanism to enforce these decisions, it would be up to individual member states to enforce the decision or to impose penalties, such as economic embargos, on states that refuse to implement the court’s decision. The CARICOM group of Caribbean states have expressed their intention to bring a lawsuit against former colonial powers in this forum, however, court proceedings have yet to begin.