Friday, August 11, 2017

Rao: The Jadhav case (2017): India and Pakistan before the International Court of Justice

Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao has posted The Jadhav case (2017): India and Pakistan before the International Court of Justice (Indian Journal of International Law, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:
This paper examines the Jadhav case filed by India before the ICJ. Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national, was arrested by Pakistan on charges of espionage, sabotage and terrorism. Pakistan denied several requests from India seeking consular access to Jadhav after his arrest preventing it from rendering him necessary assistance. A military court of Pakistan sentenced him to death. Under the circumstances, India filed a case before the ICJ seeking its jurisdiction under Article 36(1) of its Statute to assert its right of consular access. Pakistan contested the jurisdiction of the ICJ. The ICJ stayed the death sentence and called for memorials to be filed by the Parties to decide first on issues of jurisdiction and later concerning merits as appropriate. This case also offers an opportunity to take an overview of India’s policy and practice concerning peaceful settlement of disputes through judicial means.