Dear Media Colleagues:
The ICJ hearings in the India v Pakistan Case (death penalty) will be broadcast live on UNWebTV (http://webtv.un.org/) and on the Court’s website (http://www.icj-cij.org/) starting at1:30 p.m. IST on Monday, 15 May 2017.
Should you wish to embed the stream on your website, please find attached the codes to that effect.
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Editorial background:
The India v Pakistan case in a nutshell (for ease of reference, not an official summary):
Merits of the case
At the ICJ, India is accusing Pakistan since Monday 8 May 2017 of “egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations” (hereinafter the “Vienna Convention”) in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan.
India contends that it was not informed of Mr. Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights to legal, consular support. It further alleges that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan are denying India its right of consular access to Mr. Jadhav, despite its repeated requests. The Applicant also points out that it learned about the death sentence against Mr. Jadhav from a press release.
India therefore requests the Court (among three other reliefs) to decide the “immediate suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused”. For more details read: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/ files/168/19420.pdf
Side-proceedings (which will be dealt with at ICJ on Monday 15 May 2017)
On top of the claims explained above (which constitute the “merits” of the case), India also filed a “Request for the indication of provisional measures” (in other words: India wants the ICJ to take urgent interim measures against Pakistan in order to freeze the situation and not further aggravate the case).
India states that Mr. Jadhav “will be subjected to execution unless the Court indicates provisional measures directing the Government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that he is not executed until th[e] Court’s decision on the merits” of the case. India further indicates that the protection of its rights is a matter of urgency as “[w]ithout the provisional measures requested, Pakistan will execute Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav before th[e] Court can consider the merits of India’s claims and India will forever be deprived of the opportunity to vindicate its rights”. India adds that it is possible that the appeal filed by the mother of the accused on his behalf may soon be disposed of.
India requests the Court (among two other reliefs) to indicate “[t]hat the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan take all measures necessary to ensure that Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav is not executed”.
On 9 May 2017, the ICJ President (Judge Ronny Abraham), exercising his power under Article 74, paragraph 4, of the rules of the Court, pending the meeting of the Court, sent a letter calling upon the Government of Pakistan “to act in such a way as will enable any Order the Court may make on this Request (for provisional measures) to have its appropriate effects”. For more details read: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/ files/168/19420.pdf
It is recalled that Orders of the Court have a binding force for the Parties concerned.
Speakers:
1. ICJ President: H.E. Judge Ronny Abraham (France)
2. Agent and other Representatives of India in the morning (name tbc)
3. Agent and other Representatives of Pakistan in the afternoon (names tbc)
Photos and videos
The 15 May 2017 hearings will be web-streamed live on UNwebTV (See info above).
Fresh photos, video files (b-roll) and a Press Release will be made available on 15 May 2017 on the ICJ website (www.icj-cij.org/multimedia); Should you however already wish to use stock images of the ICJ, please feel free to use the pictures and videos which were made on 7 March 2016 (in the Marshall Islands v India case, for example). They are available here: http://www.icj-cij.org/pressco m/gallery.php?p1=6&event=20160 307_miind
Background info about the ICJ itself:
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine‑year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only court of a universal character with general jurisdiction.
The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious proceedings, and to certain organs and institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the other ¾ mostly criminal ¾ judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal court, established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an international judicial body with an independent legal personality, established by the United Nations Security Council upon the request of the Lebanese Government and composed of Lebanese and international judges), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1899).
Best-est,
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RAJIV CHANDRAN National Information Officer United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan 55, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003 Tel: 91 11 46532237 M: 9810606833 |
Sagar Media Inc 