ICJ admits only part of the case against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Ukraine brought the case to the court just days after the Russian invasion in February 2022, claiming that Moscow lied to justify its invasion by citing the need to stop an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv asked the United Nations’ top court to “rule and declare that there is no credible evidence that Ukraine is responsible for committing genocide in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention,” and the court found that it had jurisdiction to rule on the matter, contrary to Moscow’s rejection. A final, legally binding decision on this subject is probably years in the future.

However, Kyiv also asked the ICJ to declare that Russia’s “use of force” and its “recognition” of the independence of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” also violated the Genocide Convention, but the ICJ said it could not rule on these issues under that specific treaty because they fall outside its jurisdiction.

The refusal to rule on these aspects does not mean that the ICJ is condoning the Russian aggression against Ukraine, nor is it a ruling that Russia has not committed violations of international law under other treaties, it simply means that the ICJ sees no jurisdiction to rule on the basis of the specific Genocide Convention – which Kyiv used to initiate this case.

“In the present case, even if the Russian Federation had, in bad faith, alleged that Ukraine committed genocide and taken certain measures against it under such a pretext, which the respondent (Ukraine) contends, this would not in itself constitute a violation of obligations” under the Genocide Convention, said the court’s president, Joan E. Donoghue. Ukraine hailed the decision as a victory.