Legal team ‘mulls ways to address India’s ICJ gambit’

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has started deliberations to evolve a legal strategy to present its case i.e. the conviction of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which is going to hold public hearings in the matter from May 15.

The hearings, according to the ICJ, will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by India.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali chaired an important meeting at the AGP Office on Thursday on the crucial issue of Jadhav’s conviction.

The meeting was attended by the foreign secretary, the law secretary, officials from the Judge Advocate General (military legal branch) and other authorities concerned.

It was learnt that the meeting continued for more than five hours, during which It was also decided that all the representatives would meet again today (Friday) to finalise a legal strategy.

Talking to this correspondent, a senior government official said, “The legal team of the government, including the AGP and officials from the law ministry, is mulling over a way forward to best address India’s ICJ gambit.”

According to the sources, it is yet to be decided as to who will represent Pakistan before the ICJ.

India petitions ICJ for stay in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence

Meanwhile, renowned international law expert Ahmer Bilal Soofi, while talking to The Express Tribune, expressed apprehension about the ICJ’s conduct in the case.

“The ICJ has given a very short notice to Pakistan, which is unprecedented, particularly when no date of his (Jadhav) execution has been fixed or announced by Pakistan,” he stated.

“There is not enough time to prepare for arguments or submit a written reply to the application or to constitute a team of lawyers and arrange their visas,” he said.

Believing that the short time period is denying Pakistan the proper preparation process to present its version for denying consular access to Jadhav before the ICJ, Soofi urged the Pakistani government to file a formal protest before the ICJ’s registrar.

Soofi – who had represented Pakistan before the ICJ in the nuclear weapon case (Republic of the Marshall Islands) last year and won it too — said, “An official will have to appear from Pakistan’s side as limited time had been given to Pakistan to prepare for the oral hearing.”

“The ambassador may appear but he is not a lawyer nor is he well-versed in the rules of procedure; or the attorney general who may have very little time to fully prepare,” he said.

“Virtually there is no time to make arrangements for deciding terms of engagement with any private lawyer locally or internationally to be part of Pakistan’s legal team.”

Soofi said the ICJ is not taking up the main case on May 15, but only an application for provisional measures.

“The proceedings before the ICJ are a very complex affair. They not only require command over substantive international law, but also intricate procedural law of ICJ that is contained in its statute and detailed rules made by the court, therefore, the counsel needs to be well-versed in the precedent law on procedure,” he added.

After going through pleadings and annexure filed by India, Soofi believes India seems to be treating the ICJ as a court of appeal against Jadhav’s death penalty. “This cannot be the case as the ICJ has no jurisdiction to sit on judgment over facts adjudicated in criminal trial under a recognised legal process in any country.”

Soofi advised Pakistan “to contest this case fully and inform the ICJ about the national security reasons that prevailed while denying consular access to Jadhav and also details of any further investigations that are being carried out in the case”.

Source: The Express Tribune