UNIVERSAL CIVIL JURISDICTION: AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Recently, a US civil court issued a summon to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in a case relating to an alleged murder plot against Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

- ABHINAV MEHROTRA & DR. BISWANATH GUPTA

This issue came to prominence in recent times when Mr Pannum alleged that RAW is attempting to Murder him due to his dissent against India. This necessitates the need to understand the issue of Summoning, the Exercise of Universal Civil Jurisdiction upon which a USA court has issued summons to India and exercise of such provisions in other jurisdictions under International Law.

The origin of this can be traced to Jurisdiction Of International Law. State can apply jurisdiction in Five Principal Ways. They are Territorial, Nationality Principle, Passive Personality, Protective And Universal Principle of jurisdiction. The territorial principle is associated with the concept of boundaries of the state. The state has exclusive jurisdiction within the territories of the country. The other four are associated with the power of the states to exercise extra territorial jurisdiction in International Law. The nationality principle can be applied by a state when the accused of a crime is the national of the country. International Court of Justice in Nottebum Case explained the principle of nationality in international law. Secondly, the Passive Personality Or Passive Nationality Principle can be exercised by the state, when the victim is from the country even though the incident happened outside the territory of the country. International Court of Justice in Tehran Case And Locarbee Case have used this principle to justify jurisdiction. The fourth is the protective principle of international law can be applicable when, the country Can Exercise Jurisdiction In case their security and asset is under threat Or Damaged outside their Country. Similarly in the lockerbee case, ICJ used this principle to ju