<P> Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice . The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court . </P> <P> The Court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity . After the court ruled that the United States's covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law (Nicaragua v. United States), the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 to accept the court's jurisdiction only on a case - by - case basis . Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings . However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members of the Council, which the United States used in the Nicaragua case . </P> <P> The ICJ is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine - year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list of people nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration . The election process is set out in Articles 4--19 of the ICJ statute . Elections are staggered, with five judges elected every three years to ensure continuity within the court . Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge in a special election to complete the term . </P> <P> No two judges may be nationals of the same country . According to Article 9, the membership of the Court is supposed to represent the "main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world". Essentially, that has meant common law, civil law and socialist law (now post-communist law). </P>

Who appoints the judges of international court of justice
find me the text answering this question