On Friday, the United Nations' top court confirmed its jurisdiction to consider Ukraine's plea for a declaration stating that Kyiv bears no responsibility for genocide. However, it clarified that it cannot address other aspects of Ukraine's case.
Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of genocide. Ukraine brought its case to the International Court of Justice almost two years ago, alleging that Moscow used false claims of genocide to justify its invasion. The filing happened in March 2022, just days after Russia launched the invasion.
However, the court emphasized it cannot rule on that issue. Instead, it will focus on deciding whether Ukraine violated the convention, as claimed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to justify the invasion. A decision could take up to months or even years to make.
What Was The Case?
The Associated Press reported the court's President Joan E. Donoghue said, "In the present case, even if the Russian Federation had, in bad faith, alleged that Ukraine committed genocide and taken certain measures against it under such a pretext, which the respondent (Ukraine) contends, this would not in itself constitute a violation of obligations" under the genocide convention.
Reuters revealed that Ukraine previously argued there was no risk of genocide in eastern Ukraine, where it had been fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014.
The court issued emergency orders in March 2022 for Russia to immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine.
"It is important that the court will decide on the issue that Ukraine is not responsible for some mythical genocide which the Russian Federation falsely alleged that Ukraine has committed," Ukraine's representative Anton Korynevych told journalists at the ICJ.
He added that it was also important that the emergency order by the court in March 2022 -- that Russia immediately halt its military operations in Ukraine -- still stands.
While the court's rulings are final and legally binding, it has no way to enforce them, and some states, like Russia, have ignored them.
Ukraine did win a small victory at the ICJ on Wednesday when the judges ruled Russia had violated U.N. treaties against the financing of terrorism and discrimination in a different case that dealt with incidents from 2014.
