Ukraine moves International Court of Justice: Will justice be delivered?

Ukraine has filed a suit against Russia with the International Court of Justice at Hague. Ukraine has prayed for holding Russia accountable for creating a false theory of genocide to justify their illegal aggression on Ukraine. The Suit also prays for the stoppage of military activity by Russia in Ukraine. There are also prayers for reparations. The Suit is likely to come up for a hearing next week. Now the biggest question is “will Ukraine get Justice from ICJ”?

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations. The two most important functions of ICJ are:

To settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted by States

To give advisory options on legal questions referred to it by authorized UN organs and specialized agencies.

The in-camera hearing before ICJ starts with written submissions followed by oral submissions. Thereafter the bench of judges deliberates and decides the issue by passing judgment. However, all these proceedings normally take months. In such a scenario, can Ukraine expect some urgent relief from the ICJ?

Another issue is what if Russia does not participate in the proceedings before ICJ? Though, non-participation of Russia will not prevent the case from moving on. However, it will raise serious practical and structural difficulties for conducting the proceedings. This will make the entire proceeding ex-parte and difficult for enforcement.

Another issue that may come up is what if Russia participates and order is against Russia but Russia refuses to abide by the order? Though the judgement of the ICJ is final and binding, ICJ lacks teeth to make it enforceable. No doubt, the judgment of the ICJ will be final and binding on Russia, but the order of the ICJ is not enforceable as there is no process of enforcing them. There are instances in the past when big and powerful nations refused to abide by the order of ICJ. In fact, even Ukraine is aware of all these drawbacks. But still, Ukraine has approached ICJ for the simple reason that a ruling against Russia can hurt Russia’s international reputation and set a legal precedent that may cost Russia dearly on a long-term basis.

(Rakesh K. Singh is an Advocate by profession and is the Founder Head of Law firm RKS Associate. He is also the Founder Head of NGO - Bharat Utthan Sangh. All views expressed in this article are his own.)

Published on: Sunday, March 06, 2022, 03:16 PM IST