The arbitration that is currently pending between Italy and India before an arbitral
tribunal established under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea has already given rise to two separate orders, the former delivered by the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in 2015 and the latter issued by the
arbitral tribunal itself in 2016. Both orders relate, in broad terms, to the status of the
two Italian marines who have been indicted by the Indian authorities for the lethal
shooting of two Indian fishermen in 2012 and, in particular, to their right to remain in
Italy until a decision is taken by the arbitral tribunal concerning the attribution to India
or to Italy of the jurisdiction to try the case. The two orders differ in several respects and
will be examined in a comparative fashion focusing in particular on the requirement of
urgency, on the admissibility of the second request for provisional measures filed by
Italy before the arbitral tribunal and, finally, on the measures grante
