Oral hearings in case of Ukraine and Netherlands v. Russia begin at ECHR

According to Ukrinform's own correspondent, the Ukrainian delegation, which includes, among others, the Commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights Margarita Sokorenko, together with representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for the ECHR, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Mudra, arrived in Strasbourg.

Photo: Sokorenko, FB

The European Court does not broadcast its sessions live, but a video of the oral hearings in the case of Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia will be published on the ECHR website today after the session.

The case concerns human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014 and during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine under applications No. 8019/16, 43800/14, 28525/20 and 11055/22, joined by 26 states and 1 non-governmental organisation as a third party in the part concerning Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Also, relatives of those killed in the MH17 crash arrived in Strasbourg from the Netherlands to attend the hearing.

As Ukrinform reported, in July 2020, the Netherlands filed an interstate application with the ECHR against the Russian Federation over the downing of MH17 in July 2014 and the deaths of 298 people. The Government of Ukraine expressed its desire to join this inter-state application as a third party.

On 27 November 2020, the ECHR announced the consolidation of three inter-state cases into one case "Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia" under applications No. 8019/16, 43800/14, 28525/20:

- Ukraine v. Russia (concerning eastern Ukraine), application No. 8019/16, which concerns massive and systematic human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions;

- Ukraine v. Russia, application no. 43800/14, concerning the abduction and attempted illegal transfer of orphans from Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the territory of the Russian Federation in 2014;

- The Netherlands v. Russia, application no. 28525/20, concerning the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The Government of the Netherlands complains in relation to the events surrounding the downing of MH17. Ukraine's complaint regarding the events in eastern Ukraine is broader, with the Government of Ukraine also complaining about the downing of a passenger aircraft. Therefore, the interstate affairs of Ukraine and the Netherlands are linked.