[Al Jazeera] The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Pakistain to stay the execution of an Indian national convicted of spying.India approached the top UN court after Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer, was sentenced to death by a Pak military court last month on charges of espionage and sabotage.
"Pakistain shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings," the ICJ ruled in a unanimous and binding decision on Thursday.
Ronny Abraham, the Hague-based court's president, also asked Pakistain to inform the tribunal that it will implement the ruling, and stressed that ICJ decisions are binding on all state members.
The ICJ's rulings are final and binding. Yet, the court has no means to enforce its decisions and they have occasionally been ignored.
The hearings and, final decision, could take more many months, if not years.
Pakistain's government accepted the decision of the court, saying that the orders do not affect the current status of Jadhav's case as his execution was not imminent, given pending appeals.