"Ukraine v. Russia" case in ICJ regarding Russia's violation of two conventions first one to be heard on merits - diplomat
The "Ukraine v. Russia" case being heard by the UN International Court of Justice regarding Russia's violation of the two conventions - on the suppression of the financing of terrorism and on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination - is the first case that is being considered on the merits.
That’s according to Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Agent of Ukraine at the Court, who spoke of this in an exclusive interview with an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague.
"This is the first case of Ukraine against the Russian Federation in international judicial institutions, which is being heard on the merits. Therefore, let's really hope that this will be the first ruling on the merits, and that it will be the first ruling on the merits in our favor, of course," he said.
He also noted that the Ukrainian legal team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, legal advisers, members of the delegation, and experts worked as hard as possible to present to the court all available arguments for judges to pass the appropriate ruling.
"This ruling is important for us because we hope it will record the Russian Federation's violation of the two conventions: the International Convention on Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It would also record that the Russian Federation must bear responsibility for these violations. The ruling would apparently record that the Russian Federation must take action to prevent the relevant violations from repeating, and also that the Russian Federation must pay appropriate compensation for these violations. The amount of compensation is decided in a separate proceeding when there is a ruling on the merits of the case, that is, the ruling on the merits in this case will pave the way for the UN International Court of Justice to begin establishing the scale of the required compensation to be paid by the Russian Federation," he explained.
Korynevych also emphasized the importance of international law.
"We kicked off our speeches on June 6 with the fact that the Russian Federation despises international law and believes that force is the determining factor. We talked about the fact that international law is important. And we are definitely waiting for the relevant decisions of the UN International Court of Justice, which will establish these violations of international law by the Russian Federation. I think that in the speech of Ukraine’s Co-Agent on June 12, it was very clearly shown what the Russian Federation is doing during oral hearings: it is the construction of ‘Potemkin villages,’ a facade, a cardboard box aimed at making the world believe it is real. But this is not true, it is an absolute lie," said Korynevych.
According to the diplomat and lawyer, it is important for the Ukrainian legal team, the team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and legal advisors that this case completes properly because the decisions of international judicial institutions on violations of international law by the Russian Federation are truly needed.
"One thing is when we talk about these violations as citizens of Ukraine - and this is important, too, it’s our civic position, our political position. But we understand that the grounds for accountability at the international level are the judgments of international courts. So we need these judgments, we need a portfolio of such judgments. And I am sure that the day will definitely come when these judgments will be handed down. We are not really interested in what the Russian Federation thinks about this. Rulings of the United Nations International Court of Justice are binding. The state cannot snub complying with the rulings of the International Court of Justice. Any failure to comply with the judgments of the International Court of Justice is a violation by the state, which we, in particular, emphasized when we spoke: failure to comply with the Orders on interim measures is a violation of the mandatory Orders on interim measures of the UN ICJ. The Russian Federation is in court, the Russian Federation is a party to the proceeding – you can see it. I think that the day will come when everything that international judicial bodies decide about the violation of international law by the Russian Federation will be fulfilled. Therefore, we need to have these rulings because we need, in particular, to have a base of such rulings and to talk about the fact that this is not only the position of Ukraine, the state which is the victim of aggression, but these are the rulings issued by international judicial institutions," Korynevych explained.
On November 8, 2019, the UN International Court of Justice recognized its jurisdiction in the case of Russia's violation of the two conventions.
On January 16, 2017, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia with the UN International Court of Justice regarding the violation of the Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the Convention on the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination.
Charges against Russia include providing weapons and other aid to illegal armed groups; the downing of flight MH17; shelling of residential areas of Mariupol and Kramatorsk; destruction of a civilian passenger bus near Volnovakha; an explosion during a peaceful meeting in Kharkiv; discrimination against the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities; banning the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people; waves of abductions, murders, arbitrary searches, detentions; and restrictions on the teaching of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.