ISLAMABAD: The Inter­national Court of Justice (ICJ) will resume hearing of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case in February next year.

According to a press release issued by the court, “the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the Jadhav case (India vs Pakistan) from Monday 18 to Thursday 21 February 2019, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court”.

As per the schedule issued by the ICJ, India will present its arguments on Feb 18 and Pakistan on Feb 19. In the second round, India will present arguments on Feb 20 and Pakistan on Feb 21.

The ICJ had asked Pakistan in May last year to stay the execution of Jadhav, who is convicted of spying and involvement in acts of terrorism in Pakistan.

Judges at the ICJ ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Sudhir Yadav (Jadhav) must not be executed by Islamabad until the court had time to pass a final judgement in the case.

Jadhav was arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and he has confessed to spying for Indian intelligence services. He was convicted by a military court and sentenced to death.

But India says Jadhav is not a spy and it has accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking international human rights law.

“Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings,” said the Court’s President Ronny Abraham.

He also ordered Pakistan to inform the tribunal that it had implemented the decision, and stressed that ICJ decisions were binding on all state members.

The ICJ was set up in 1945 to rule on disputes between nations in accordance with international law.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2018