On 31 January 2024, the International Court of Justice (the “ICJ” or “Court”) issued a judgment on the merits in the case 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 (Ukraine v. Russian Federation). The case, started in 2017, related to alleged violations of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism of 9 December 1999 (ICSFT) and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 21 December 1965 (CERD). As basis for the jurisdiction of the Court, the Applicant invoked Article 24 of the ICSFT and Article 22 of CERD. Ukraine brought the case against Russia following the annexation of the Crimea. In short, Ukraine alleged that Russia failed to prevent terrorist financing in Eastern Ukraine and that Russia discriminated against Crimean Tartars and Ukrainians in the educational system in Crimea.
The Court found that “the Russian Federation, by failing to take measures to investigate facts contained in information received from Ukraine regarding persons who have allegedly committed an offence set forth in Article 2 of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, has violated its obligation under Article 9, paragraph 1, of the said Convention” and that “the Russian Federation, by the way in which it has implemented its educational system in Crimea after 2014 with regard to school education in the Ukrainian language, has violated its obligations under Articles 2, paragraph 1 (a), and 5 (e) (v) of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”. All other claims on the merits of the case were dismissed.
The Judgment is available here.
On 2 February 2024, the ICJ issued its Judgment on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation). One of the issues before the court was a request by Ukraine that it be “[a]djudged and declare[d] that there is no credible evidence that Ukraine is responsible for committing genocide in violation of the Genocide Convention in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine”. In its ruling, the Court held that the request was admissible. However, the court rejected the request to adjudge that the “the Russian Federation’s use of force in and against Ukraine beginning on 24 February 2022 violates Articles I and IV of the Genocide Convention” and “(d) [a]djudge and declare that the Russian Federation’s recognition of the independence of the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ on 21 February 2022 violates Articles I and IV of the Genocide Convention”.
The judgment is available here.
adjudged that there was “no credible case
The {New} International Law 