Synopsis In this book Mr. Anand brings a searching and thoroughly documented analysis to bear upon the work of the two Courts in all its substantial aspects. The drive for compulsory jurisdiction and the forces that have held it in check, the disillusioning history of the "optional clause", and the inroads of the domestic jurisdiction reservation are all here evaluated in historical and political perspective. Touching the composition of the Court, the author presents a realistic assessment of the mode of election and of the conflict between the principles of personal merit and representation of the main legal systems, with some special reference to the Asian sense of Western over-weighting.