[JURIST] The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) [official website] on Monday ordered India [order, PDF] to suspend the trial of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012. The tribunal claimed jurisdiction over the case under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Statute of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea [texts, PDF], calling on India to “suspend all court proceedings and refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute…or might jeopardize or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render,” and to lift travel restrictions on the men. The case was brought to the tribunal by Italy, which maintains the men were “[s]tate officials exercising official functions pursuant to lawful authority” and thereby immune from prosecution. India holds that it has the right to try the marines for what it believes was a double murder at sea [NDTV report]. The ITLOS further required both governments to submit an initial report of compliance to the order by September 24, 2015.

The “Enrica Lexie Incident” took place in 2012 where two Italian marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, shot and killed two Indian fishermen [DNA India report], Ajesh Binki and Valentine, believing them to be pirates. The killing sparked international controversy and jurisdictional issues. Last month, India’s top court heard [Reuters report] a plea from Italy challenging India’s jurisdiction. In 2012 Rome compensated the victims’ families with $190,000 and the families dropped their cases against the marines, however, the state did not follow suit.