The tribunal upholds both parties’ rights ahead of the decision by the arbitral tribunal in The Hague, whilst acknowledging the “grief and suffering of the families of the two Indian fishermen who were killed” as well as the “consequences that the lengthy restrictions on liberty entail for the two Marines and their families”.

Hamburg (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has ruled in the case involving Italian marines Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre.

In its ruling, the Hamburg-based ITLOS (pictured) granted Rome its request to stop the Indian courts, but rejected its demand to have the two marines on trial repatriated until the final decision of the arbitral tribunal in The Hague.

More specifically, the tribunal said that Italy and India "shall suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the Annex VII arbitral tribunal or might jeopardize or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render”.

In doing so, it acknowledged the need to preserve the rights of each party, whilst noting that its decision cannot be construed as backing either one.

The tribunal also ruled that Italy and India should each submit to the Tribunal the “initial report referred to in paragraph 138 not later than 24 September 2015, and authorizes the President, after that date, to request such information from the Parties as he may consider appropriate.”

The sentence, taken with 15 votes in favour and six against, goes on to say that "the Tribunal is aware of the grief and suffering of the families of the two Indian fishermen who were killed" and "is also aware of the consequences that the lengthy restrictions on liberty entail for the two Marines and their families."

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