The art of legal warfare: kow to deprive the aggressor state of jurisdictional immunities. Evidence from Ukraine

Résumé

The issue of state responsibility has been relevant for a long time. Very often, states refuse to enforce foreign court judgments relying on their immunities guaranteed to each country by the UN Charter. However, when it comes to violations of jus cogens, a relevant question arises: can a state hide behind its own immunities in the face of a blatant violation of international law and human rights violations? The issue of punishing Russia for crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine and for violations of international law in general is currently relevant. In addition, the war in Ukraine has shown the lack of functioning of many areas of international law. Thus, the mechanism of punishing Russia is important not only for this particular case, but also for preventing similar acts in the future. At the request of 39 member states, the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into the war in Ukraine. Other courts are also considering Ukraine's complaints following the Russian invasion. In this article, the author describes his own vision of why Russia's immunities are not absolute and why national courts should deny Russia immunities in claims for compensation for damage caused by armed aggression in Ukraine, including the occupation of Crimea and the Donbas. The author also refers to the case law of other countries and Ukraine to understand the approaches of foreign courts to the issue of immunities in the context of armed aggression and to compare their approaches with Ukrainian legal proceedings. Finally, the author also proposes amendments to Ukrainian legislation to more effectively recover the damage caused by Russia. In addition, the author proposes four measures that the international community should take to punish the aggressor and prevent acts of aggression in the past, whether by Russia or any other state. The purpose of the article is to analyze the issue of sovereign immunities of states and current issues related to the deprivation of such immunities. In addition, the author examines the relevance of this issue on the example of the war in Ukraine. The article also aims to highlight the steps that Ukraine and the international community can take to punish Russia for its crimes and violations of international law. The leading scientific method used by the author in the study is the method of analysis and synthesis. The author used this method to analyze the existing practice in international law in order to understand the role of state immunities in international relations. This method was also used to find ways to solve the problem of holding Russia accountable for an act of aggression and violation of jus cogens.