Equipo Nizkor - Russia hopes UN court rejects accusations of Ukraine before it is considered.

Moscow hopes that the UN International Court of Justice will reject the claim of Ukraine against the Russian Federation prior to its consideration on the merits, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

"The Russian side hopes that the UN International Court of Justice treats with due attention the arguments that it has no jurisdiction to consider false accusations and will reject them before consideration on the merits," the statement said.

The Foreign Ministry noted Russia's position - Ukraine is abusing international instruments to combat financing of terrorism and racial discrimination to achieve its own political goals.

Russian Ambassador at Large Dmitry Lobach said earlier that the International Court of Justice, the United Nations principal judicial body seated in The Hague, has no jurisdiction to consider the Ukraine Vs Russia case. Lobach is representing Russia at the Court hearings on this case that was initiated by the Ukrainian side in January 2017, claiming that Russia had violated the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The hearings underway in The Hague on June 3 through 7 are to consider preliminary objections, with the merits of the case being outside the agenda.

"We have appeared before you today to demonstrate that the case brought by Ukraine should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction," Lobach said. "Ukraine however is seeking to use the ICSFT (International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism) and ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) as a device to bring a wider set of issues before the court."

"Both conventions have no connection to the subject matter of current disagreements between the two countries," he stressed. "The artificial matter of the present case is also evidenced by the fact that it conflates two completely different factual situations and indeed two separate cases."

Ukraine lodged a lawsuit with the United Nations International Court of Justice on January 16, 2017, accusing Russia of violating the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Ukrainian side also requested to specify temporary injunctions, noting that the claims aimed "to protect Ukraine's rights before a judgement is passed on the merits of the case." The document specifically urges the court to demand that Russia "refrain from any actions that could exacerbate or intensify disagreements" in compliance with the two conventions.

On April 19, 2017, the Court partially granted Ukraine's demand for indicating provisional measures against Russia. It ruled, in particular, that with regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Russia must refrain from imposing limitations on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to conserve its representative institutions and ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language. With regard to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, the Court has ruled that there is no need for indicating provisional measures against Russia.

In September 2018, Russia came out with preliminary objections concerning the UN International Court's jurisdiction concerning the dispute with Ukraine.

08Jun19

Russia hopes UN court rejects accusations of Ukraine before it is considered

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 08Jun19]

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