Italy wants second marine to return home for duration of arbitration

The Arbitral Tribunal is yet to set a date to take up Italy’s plea.

There is fresh movement in the legal tussle between India and Italy over the case of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012, with Italy now filing a plea before a recently constituted Arbitral Tribunal under the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Italy has pleaded that one of the marines, Salvatore Girone, be allowed to travel to Italy and remain there until arbitration between the two countries is complete. Girone has been living in the Italian embassy in New Delhi while the other marine, Sergeant Massimiliano Latorre, was allowed to travel to Italy last year after being diagnosed with a medical condition.

Italy submitted the plea before the Arbitral Tribunal requesting provisional measures under Section 290 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It asked the Arbitral Tribunal to “recognise and protect fundamental rights before the final settlement of the dispute.”

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The Arbitral Tribunal is yet to set a date to take up Italy’s plea.

The five-member Arbitral Tribunal was constituted in November for arbitration between the two countries under Annex VII of UNCLOS.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands, announced on November 6 that the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal had been completed.

While Italy appointed Professor Francesco Francioni on June 26 as one of the five arbitrators, India appointed Judge Patibandla Chandrasekhara Rao on July 24. Judge Jin-Hyun Paik of Korea, Judge Patrick Robinson of Jamaica and Judge Vladimir Golitsyn of Russia are the other arbitrators.

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