Ukraine moves ICJ against Russia: International Court of Justice and its jurisdiction explained

On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has filed a suit with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague against Russia.

Zelensky said that Russia must be held accountable for “manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression”.

"Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

In its application to the ICJ, Ukraine “emphatically denied” any occurrence of a genocide in the country’s eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

At least 532 civilians have been killed during Russia's invasion, including 14 children, Ukraine's interior ministry said on Monday. It said an additional 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded.

Let's take a look at the the International Court of Justice (ICJ), how it works and if it has any jurisdiction over the conflict:

What is ICJ?

The International Court of Justice {ICJ} is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946.

The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague, which is in The Netherlands.

The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by states; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.

The first case entered in the General List of the Court (Corfu Channel United Kingdom v. Albania) was submitted on 22 May, 1947.

Between 22 May 1947 and 23 September 2021, the ICJ has taken up 181 cases.

ICJ’s jurisdiction in Russia-Ukraine conflict

As per a Reuters report, ICJ does not have automatic jurisdiction in cases involving Russia and Ukraine. To give the court authority to hear the matter, Kyiv will have to base its claim on a UN treaty.

In the past, Ukraine has sought the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which handles war crimes.

After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the subsequent fighting between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the eastern regions of the country, Kyiv accepted ICC jurisdiction for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on its territory since February 2014.

In December 2020, the office of the prosecutor announced it had reason to believe war crimes and other crimes were committed during the conflict, the Reuters report said.

A formal request to open a full investigation has not been filed with judges, but ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on Friday expressed his concern over the Russian invasion and said the court may investigate alleged crimes arising from the current situation.