On July 18, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared its decision in the case of Russia v. Ukraine (application no. 36958/21). According to the Ukranian Ministry of Justice, the court rejected Russia’s claims in full and struck the application out of its list of cases.
The case arose based on the application against Ukraine lodged by the Government of Russia on July 22, 2021 under Article 33 (Inter-State cases) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is the only inter-state complaint against Ukraine. It contained allegations categorized into 10 groups. Thus, Russia accused Ukraine of an administrative practice of "killings, abductions, forced displacement, interference with the right to vote, restrictions on the use of the Russian language, and attacks on Russian embassies and consulates." Russia also attempted to lay the blame on Ukraine for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 because it "had failed to close its airspace." Moscow also complained of the water supply to Crimea via the North Crimean Canal being cut off.
The court noted that, when filing an application and requests for interim measures, the applicant must prove to the ECHR the existence of an imminent risk of violation of the rights as defined in the European Convention on Human Rights and support it with evidence. Russia failed to provide such evidence. Moreover, all documents have been filed in Russian, although English and French are official languages of the ECHR.
In March 2022, the Council of Europe excluded Russia as a member state because of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Russia ceased to take part in the work of the ECHR. However, the court proceeded to examine the cases concerning Russia it had pending to "demonstrate the principle of the rule of law".
The ECHR decision in the case of Russia v. Ukraine
"Russia mistook the ECHR for a Russian TV show — in their application they lodged with the court, they set out all the myths of Russian propaganda. It’s not that this was an absolutely meaningless move since they’ve obtained an additional media platform for brainwashing and a newsbreak. However, from the legal perspective, they’re facing an imminent defeat," Ukrainian Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska commented on Russia’s application back in 2021.
There are four inter-State applications pending before the ECHR brought by Ukraine against Russia. The public Grand Chamber hearing in the case of Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea) No. 20958/14 will be held on November 8, 2023.
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