ICJ to Hold Public Hearing in Kulbhushan Jadhav Case on 15 May

Kulbhushan Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court in April this year.

• The International Court of Justice stays Kulbhushan Jadhav’s execution
  
• ICJ to hold public hearing in Jadhav’s case on 15 May
• Senior advocate Harish Salve is representing India before the ICJ in the case

• India was denied consular access to Jadhav 16 times by Pakistan

• A Pakistani military court had handed the death sentence to Jadhav, accusing him of being a spy

President of ICJ Seeks Cooperation From India and Pakistan

The ICJ has sent an urgent communication to Pakistan and India from the office of its President under Article 74 for Islamabad and New Delhi's cooperation till a decision is reached.

Judge Ronny Abraham, the President of the ICJ, has forwarded the urgent communication to both Pakistan and India .

Abraham in his letter to Pakistan Prime MInister Nawaz Sharif, said, " In my capacity as President of the Court, and exercising the powers conferred upon me under Article 74 , Paragraph 4, of the rules, I call upon the parties concerned ie. Your Excellency's Government , pending the court's decision on the request for provisional measures, to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make on this request to have its appropriate effects."

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a press release on Wednesday announced that it will hold a public hearing of Indian national and former Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been handed death sentence by a Pakistani military court for alleged spying.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay recalled that India was forced to approach the ICJ after Pakistan rejected the 16 consular requests to Jadhav, filed by India. The government filed a petition with the ICJ on 8 May, and the international court stayed Jadhav’s execution the following day.

While there has been no official communication from Pakistan regarding the stay order by ICJ, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz reportedly said that their government is analysing the authority of ICJ to freeze Jadhav’s sentence.

An official communication from the Pakistani government is expected to be released in the next few days.

Public Hearings on 15 May: ICJ

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on Monday hold public hearings in the case of Jadhav.

The announcement was made by ICJ on Wednesday night, a day after it stayed Jadhav’s execution following India’s initiation of proceedings against Pakistan, accusing it of “egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations”.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on Monday, 15 May 2017...in the proceedings instituted by India on 8 May 2017 against Pakistan. The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India.

ICJ release

'We Are Analysing ICJ's Authority to Stay Jadhav's Execution', Says Pakistan

Pakistan has said it is analysing the International Court of Justice's authority to freeze the execution Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan would release a statement on the issue in the next few days.

"We are analysing the Indian petition and the ICJ's authority in this case,” Aziz said after the Hague-based ICJ stayed the execution of 46-year-old Jadhav.