By Simply Alleging Genocide, A Country Can't Invade Another : Ukraine Argues Before ICJ In Case Against Russia

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, Netherlands on Monday heard extensive arguments from Ukraine while adjudicating upon an application moved by the Ukrainian government accusing Russia of carrying out and "planning acts of genocide in Ukraine." The application inter alia also urged the ICJ to urgently indicate provisional measures directing Russia to suspend its military actions in the region. The oral arguments were heard by a bench of 15 judges of the ICJ which also included Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court of India and presently India's nominee at the ICJ. Although time had been allocated to Russia to presents its counter arguments before the ICJ on Tuesday, President of the ICJ Judge Joan E Donoghue stated during the hearing on Monday that Russian Ambassador to The Hague Alexander Shulgin vide letter dated March 5, 2022 had indicated that his government did not intend to participate in the proceedings.Expressing regret over such non-appearance, President Joan E Donoghue remarked, "The Court regrets the non-appearance of the Russian Federation in these oral proceedings."Following the oral submissions made by Ukraine, the Court observed that it would pass an order on the question of provisional measures expeditiously. It was also stated that the date of the verdict would be indicated to the parties soon.However, since Russia has refused to participate in the ongoing proceedings, it is of contention whether Russia would take steps to implement the Court's order on provisional measures. It may be noted that by signing the UN Charter, pursuant to Article 94, a Member State of the United Nations undertakes to comply with the decision of the Court in any case to which it is a party. Both Russia and Ukraine countries have signed and ratified the UN Charter. The court judgments in the contentious cases are final and without appeal, though there is no way ICJ can enforce its decisions. However, parties have the option of approaching the United Nations Security Council which can compel the States to follow the Court's ruling.However, a judgement against one of the five permanent council members or its ally countries can be vetoed by that member. In the case of Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America the Court had decided in favour of Nicaragua and had awarded reparations to Nicaragua. The US (a permanent member of UNSC) had refused to participate in the proceedings and had also blocked enforcement of the judgment by the United Nations Security Council.Jurisdiction of the ICJ The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and is governed by its own statute- the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The Statute is an integral part of the United Nations Charter, as specified by Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter, which established the ICJ. All 193 UN member states are parties to the Statute by virtue of their ratification of the UN Charter. Under Article 93(2) of the UN Charter, States which are not a member of the UN may become a party to the Statute, subject to the recommendation of the United Nations Security Council and approval of the United National General Assembly.The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States, which have a binding force and second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by United Nations. Proceedings before the ICJ can be instituted in two ways- by means of an application, unilateral in character, submitted by an applicant State against a respondent State. In addition to the name of the party against which the claim is brought and the subject of the dispute, the applicant State must, as far as possible, indicate briefly the basis for such claim of compulsory jurisdiction of the Court. The second way to institute proceedings before the ICJ is through the notification of a special agreement which is bilateral in character and can be lodged with the Court by either or both of the States parties to the proceedings. A special agreement must indicate the subject of the dispute and the parties thereto.Ukraine's Application In its application, Ukraine has dubbed Russian justification for attacking Ukraine as – 'an absurd lie' and has further labelled Russia's claim that genocide has been committed by Ukraine government in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts as 'nonsensical and an unsupported claim.' Russia has defended its military action against Russia claiming, "the purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev (the USSR-era spelling of Ukrainian capital Kyiv) regime." Russia also asserted that it intends to "denazify Ukraine" and "bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians."Furthermore, in the application Ukraine also accuses the Russian Federation of "planning acts of genocide in...

By Simply Alleging Genocide, A Country Can't Invade Another : Ukraine Argues Before ICJ In Case Against Russia

Aaratrika Bhaumik

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