The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) Asks India and Italy to Suspend all court proceedings and refrain from initiating new ones Monday August 24,2015

 

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has put a “status quo” in the Italian marines case and asked both India and Italy to “suspend” all court proceedings and refrain from initiating new ones that might “aggravate or extend” the dispute that triggered a diplomatic row.

Hearing Italy’s appeal, ITLOS president Vladimir Golitsyn asked the two countries to submit the initial report on the entire incident by September 24,2015

ITLOS, the 21-member U.N.-mandated court located in Hamburg, Germany, issued the order on Monday August 24,2015, with 15 in favour and six against.

Italy had moved ITLOS in July 2015, challenging India’s jurisdiction to try the two marines. It said the incident took place in international waters, and as per international norms they ought to be tried in Italian courts.

In a provisional verdict, ITLOS said: “Italy and India shall both suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the Annex VII arbitral tribunal or might jeopardize or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render.”

Note 

The case related to the incident on February 12, 2012, when Sergeants Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone allegedly opened fire on the boat, St. Antony, killing two fishermen of Kerala on board. 

The two  marines were arrestedby the Kerala police. The case was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an Intergovernmental Organisation created by the mandate of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea 

ITLOS was established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,signed at Montego Bay,Jamaica  on December 10, 1982

The Convention entered into force on November 16, 1994, and established an international framework for law over "all ocean space, its uses and resources". 

ITLOS Tribunal is based in Hamburg, Germany 

The ITLOS Tribunal has the power to settle disputes between party states (there are currently 161: 160 states plus the European Union(EU)

ITLOS Tribunal has a set of 21 serving judges from a variety of states parties in three primary bodies:

• The Chamber of Summary Procedure
• The Chamber for Fisheries Disputes
• The Chamber for Marine Environment Disputes