Italian marines case | India loses jurisdiction
The HinduThe Government of India said it was studying an international tribunal’s ruling that the Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen in the waters off Kerala on February 15, 2012, held “immunity” and would face a trial in Italy, not India. While the tribunal held in Italy’s favour the main submission, of jurisdiction, it found merit in India’s counter-claim that the marines on board “Enrica Lexie” had violated the freedom of navigation rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by shooting at fishing boat “St. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “The tribunal observed that India and Italy had concurrent jurisdiction over the incident and a valid legal basis to institute criminal proceedings against the marines. As a result, Italy will resume its criminal investigation into the ‘Enrica Lexie’ case, while India “is required” to cease exercising its jurisdiction on the marines.