Kulbhushan Jadhav case: What is the International Court of Justice and how does it work

In the biggest victory for India, the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan to review Jadhav's conviction, allowed consular access.

The International Court of Justice is a principal judicial organ of the United Nations which was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began its work in April 1946.

The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands) and it is also known as the World Court.

 

The Court’s function is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.

It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ. Its official languages are English and French.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday accepted India's plea to give consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and agreed that Pakistan indeed violated the provisions of 1963 Vienna Convention.

"The Court concludes that Pakistan's objection based on the said doctrine must be rejected.
 
To conclude, the Court finds that Pakistan is under an obligation to provide, by means of its own choosing, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Vienna Convention, taking account of paragraphs 139, 145 and 146 of this judgement."

"....The court finds that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan deprived the Republic of India of the right to communicate with and have access to Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, to visit him in detention and to arrange for his legal representation, and thereby breached the obligations incumbent upon it under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations;

it also finds that the appropriate reparation in this case consists in the obligation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to provide, by the means of its own choosing, effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, so as to ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in Article 36 of the Convention.....Declares that a continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav."  the world court added. 

India's lawyers had told the court in February that it was 'farcical case' based on 'malicious propaganda', while Pakistan's lawyers hit back by accusing Jadhav of 'terrorism'.

The last hearing coincided with a sharp spike in tensions after a suicide bombing at Pulwama in J&K, although relations have since improved.