Pak. urges ICJ to freely exercise jurisdiction

THE HAGUE, APRIL 5. Pakistan today urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) not to be bound by the ``strict view of consent of parties'' to decide on the question of its jurisdiction in the dispute over the shooting down of its naval aircraft in the Kutch region last August.

``The court should not be apprehensive about exercising its jurisdiction (to entertain Pakistan's complaint) even though doubts are being repeatedly raised by India,'' Pakistan counsel, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Queen's Counsel from Cambridge University, said.

Sir Elihu submitted in his closing arguments on the third day of public hearings to determine whether the ICJ had the jurisdiction to deal with the case that the court's approach should be based on ``merits'' rather than guided by the ``strict view'' of the consent of the two countries.

India will present its closing arguments tomorrow ending the public hearings at the historic `Peace Palace' housing the ICJ and a judgment is expected in about three months.

All 16 naval personnel on board the `Atlantique' surveillance aircraft were killed when it was shot down on August 10 last.

Mr. Jamshed Hamid, legal adviser in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, in a brief submission urged the court to ``dismiss the objections raised by India and accept its jurisdiction''.

Sir Elihu, in his nearly two-hour-long submissions, said countries all over the world were increasingly accepting the jurisdiction of international tribunals to adjudicate on wide- ranging issues.

``Countries are accepting compulsory jurisdiction of international tribunals to deal with more important cases than dealt with by this court,'' he said and asked ``why should India have objections.'' He said the U.N. Security Council was scrutinising sensitive national security issues even though it was not a judicial body.

During the submissions dominated by interpretations of various legal provisions, Sir Elihu once again cited the Shimla Agreement among other grounds to invoke ICJ's jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute.

``India cannot hold out its hand of friendship to settle its differences with Pakistan peacefully under the Shimla Accord and at the same time say it was going to adhere to the strict terms of exercising reservation,'' Sir Elihu said, while asserting that one cannot simply disregard the legal relevance of the accord.

- PTI

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