The armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which began in 2014 with Russia’s occupation and proclaimed annexation of Crimea and continued with open hostilities leading to numerous victims and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, still goes on. While it has been difficult to obtain decisive action by the UN Security Council, the aggressor state being one of its permanent members vested with the veto power, Ukraine turned to international courts in tribunals in its quest for justice. The article discusses the inherent difficulties related to Ukraine’s desire to establish justice in international courts.

In the fragmented system of international judicial institutions, Ukraine has been able to take legal action in different courts, depending on their jurisdiction. This article draws particular attention to the ICJ’s case Ukraine v. Russia regarding the application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In 2019, the ICJ ruled that it has jurisdiction to examine the case on merits in respect of both conventions, which has been a major success of Ukraine’s legal action in international courts. It is submitted that going to the World Court in respectto certain internationally wrongful acts committed by the Russian Federation in the context of its attack against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political independence should be perceived neither as a display of weakness nor as a misuse of international justice. The future judgment of the International Court of Justice even covering only some aspects of the situation will place on record the chronology of events and certain causal links and, inter alia, will considerably limit the possibility to justify Russia’s aggressive actions. Delegitimising internationally wrongful acts should contribute to the restoration of the very foundations of the international legal order undermined by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Bibliography

Edited books

1. Zimmermann A (ed), The Statute of the International Court of Justice: A Commentary (2nd ed, Oxford University Press 2012) (in English).

Journal articles

2. Gnatovskyy M, Litigating War: Ukraine’s Quest for Justice at the “World Court” [2018] 2 (12) Ukraine Analityca <https://ukraine-analytica.org/litigating-war-ukraines-questforjustice-at-the-world-court> (accessed: 20.12.2020) (in English).

Websites

3. ‘Eks-upovnovazhenyi Ukrainy v sudi OON rozkazav, yak prytiahnuty Rosiyu do vidpovidalnosti’ (Hlavkom, 07.03.2017) <https://glavcom.ua/specprojects/press_ center/eks-upovnovazhenij-ukrajini-v-sudi-oon-rozkazav-jak-pritjagnuti-rosiju-dovidpovidalnosti401777.html> (accessed: 20.12.2020) (in Ukrainian).

4. ‘Prezydent perekonanyi, scho cherez Sud OON Rosiyu vdastsia prytiahnuty do vidpovidalnosti’ (UNN, 17.02.2018) <https://www.unn.com.ua/uk/news/1715771prezident-perekonaniy-scho-cherez-sud-oon-rosiyu-vdastsya-prityagnuti-dovidpovidalnostiza-krim> (accessed 20.12.2020) (in Ukrainian).

5. ‘Zelenskyi poslam: Myr na umovah Ukrainy, prytiahnuty do vidpovidalnosti RF’ (Lyha.Novosty, 20.12.2020) <https://ua-news.liga.net/politics/news/zelenskiy-postavivzavdannyamzs-mir-na-umovah-ukraini-prityagnuti-do-vidpovidalnosti-rf> (accessed 20.12.2020) (in Ukrainian).