Proceedings incidental to main proceedings

The chapter is devoted to incidental proceedings before international courts and tribunals. It explains ‘incident’ as a concept of the legal process in general and demonstrates its institutionalization in international adjudicative proceedings. It is argued that the term ‘incidental proceedings’ is a normative, not a merely semantic, category, and that therefore it must be associated with certain legal effects. The concept largely follows from general principles of law. With this as a background, the particulars of incidental proceedings before international courts and tribunals are described with reference to international case law. Next, an overview of provisional measures and preliminary objections is provided, recognizing these as clear examples of the category of incidental proceedings.