Pakistan on Wednesday designated former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani to be its ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Dawn reported quoting the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jillani had served as chief justice of Pakistan from December 11, 2013, to July 5, 2014.
Currently, none of the judges at the international court is of Pakistani nationality. According to the court’s rules, “a state party to a case before the International Court of Justice, which does not have a judge of its nationality on the bench, may choose a person to sit as an ad hoc judge in that specific case”.
India’s ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice is Justice Dalveer Bhandari.
In March 2016, Jadhav was arrested by Pakistani officials and accused of spying for India’s Research and Analysis Wing, and aiding separatist elements in restive Balochistan. In April 2017, a Pakistani martial court sentenced him to death. India, however, maintained that he was a former Navy officer who retired in 2002.
In May, India moved the International Court of Justice, which stayed Jadhav’s execution till the hearing in the case was completed. It had also told Pakistan to give consular access to Jadhav, which Islamabad has not done so far.
In June, the United Nations’ judicial body asked India to submit its arguments by September 13. Pakistan has time till December 13 to submit its counter arguments.
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