Top UN courtroom says it has jurisdiction on most of Ukraine’s invasion case | EUROtoday

Issued on: 02/02/2024 – 17:04

2 min

Ukraine dragged Russia earlier than the International Court of Justice just a few days after the invasion, looking for to battle its neighbour on all fronts, authorized in addition to diplomatic and army.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24, 2022, a part of his argument was that pro-Russian individuals in jap Ukraine had been “subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime”.

Ukraine filed a go well with on the ICJ, “emphatically denying” this and arguing that Russia’s use of “genocide” as a pretext for invasion went towards the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

In a preliminary ruling in March 2022, the ICJ sided with Ukraine and ordered Russia to halt its invasion instantly.

But Russia objected to this judgement, saying the ICJ, which decides on disputes between states, had no authorized proper to resolve on this case.

The ICJ on Friday tossed out Moscow’s argument, saying it did have jurisdiction to rule on this.

However, Ukraine had additionally mentioned in its submission that Russia’s use of pressure through the invasion was itself in contravention of the Genocide Convention.

The ICJ mentioned it didn’t have competence to resolve on this a part of the case.

The courtroom additionally mentioned it didn’t have the ability to rule on one other level raised by Ukraine — that Moscow’s recognition of the separatist areas of Lugansk and Donetsk breached the Convention.

‘Armed battle continues’

The ICJ’s rulings are binding and can’t be appealed nevertheless it has no means to implement its selections.

The courtroom famous that it had already ordered Russia to “immediately suspend” its army operations however that “the armed conflict continues to this day.”

Thirty-two allies of Ukraine additionally argued in assist of Kyiv. The ICJ dismissed a bid by the United States to affix the case.

The ICJ dominated Wednesday in a separate case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia financially backed separatist rebels in jap Ukraine for years earlier than the invasion.

The courtroom primarily sided with Russia in that case, tossing out most of Ukraine’s requests and saying that Moscow had solely failed to research potential breaches of terrorism financing regulation.

The ICJ is underneath heightened scrutiny in the meanwhile with a high-profile case in regards to the conflict in Gaza.

In a judgement beamed all world wide final Friday, it ordered Israel to take all motion needed to forestall genocide throughout its operations in response to the October 7 Hamas assault.

(AFP)