ICJ declares itself largely competent to judge case over Ukraine invasion
The UN’s highest court said on Friday it had jurisdiction to rule on most aspects of a case brought by Ukraine over Russia’s invasion launched in 2022, with kyiv demanding reparations. Ukraine filed the case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague, just days after the invasion began. Russian President Vladimir Putin partly justified the invasion with accusations of “genocide” orchestrated by kyiv in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine filed a petition with the ICJ, categorically denying the accusations and arguing that Russia’s use of “genocide” as a pretext for an invasion contravened the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. In a preliminary ruling issued in March 2022, the ICJ sided with Ukraine and called on Russia to immediately end its invasion. But Russia opposed the ruling, saying the ICJ, which decides disputes between states, had no legitimacy to judge the case.
The ICJ rejected Moscow’s argument on Friday, saying it had jurisdiction to rule on the issue. However, Ukraine also stated in its petition that the Russian invasion itself constituted a violation of the Genocide Convention. The ICJ said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on this part of the case.