Berlin - Germany is to accept verdicts of the International Court of Justice in The Hague as binding, the 66th nation to do so, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Wednesday.

The new position was adopted by Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet earlier in the day. The court is part of the United Nations system.

The ministry said the declaration would be filed Thursday with the UN secretariat in New York.

Previously, rulings were only binding on Germany if they involved treaties that explicitly named the court as arbiter, or if the opposing parties had agreed to submit a specific dispute to the court and be bound by it.

The ministry said the jurisdiction would now bind Germany in most cases involving the other 65 nations that have agreed to obey the court. Exceptions would remain for acts of the German military abroad and for the use of German territory for military purposes. (dpa)