Ukraine Prepares Even More International Lawsuits That Russia Will Ignore

Things are not going well for Ukraine.  It has lost Crimea, effective control over eastern parts of its territory, its divided government is hampered by corruption which is sparking more internal violence, and its economy is doing poorly.  Russia is the cause of many (though not all) of its problems, so it is not surprising that Ukraine is looking to try to retaliate somehow and in some way.

This past week, Ukraine’s government announced that it is preparing to bring claims against Russia in the International Court of Justice.

Along with three interstate claims filed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), we’re preparing for filing a claim to the International Court of Justice on the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and racial discrimination, as we have real facts of discrimination, in particular, Crimean Tatars on the territory of Crimea,” [Deputy Justice Minister for European integration Serhiy] Petukhov said in the parliament on Wednesday.

To my surprise, Russia has actually agreed to compulsory dispute settlement under the ICJ for both treaties.  Under Article 24 of the Terrorism Financing Convention,

1. Any dispute between two or more States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention which cannot be settled through negotiation within a reasonable time shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted to arbitration. If, within six months from the date of the request for arbitration, the parties are unable to agree on the organization of the arbitration, any one of those parties may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice, by application, in conformity with the Statute of the Court.

Similarly, under Article 22 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination:

Any dispute between two or more States Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of this Convention, which is not settled by negotiation or by the procedures expressly provided for in this Convention, shall, at the request of any of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision, unless the disputants agree to another mode of settlement.

On this latter provision, it is worth noting that the United States has reserved its liability by agreeing to jurisdicition only upon its specific agreement.  Russia did not make such an argument in Georgia’s ICJ case against Russia, so it is unlikely to do so again.

So in addition to a case under the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea, Ukraine could file at least two more international court actions against Russia over Crimea and other actions.  But will it? Russia has been largely unaffected by the Arctic Sunrise case, and it doesn’t seem in a mood to reconcile.  But, like the Philippines against China, Ukraine may simply think it doesn’t have any better options.