17:26 25.09.2017

Combining Ukraine's lawsuits against Russia technically impossible

2 min read
Combining Ukraine's lawsuits against Russia technically impossible

Ukraine's Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko has said he thinks it is impossible to combine all of Ukraine's court disputes against Russia into one case, as Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Iryna Lutsenko (Petro Poroshenko Bloc member) has suggested.

"We add any violations by the country aggressor to [already] opened cases. But currently there are different cases being adjudicated in different courts. There is the International Court of Justice, which has its unique procedure, and we filed in fact two claims there, which apply to the discrimination of Ukrainians in Crimea and the ban of financing terrorism (by Russia). There are five big cases in the European Court of Human Rights. There are separate claims filed by state companies against Russia. They involve the loss of property in Crimea and Donbas. Ukraine has also appealed to the international criminal court regarding events which took place in Crimea and in Donbas. Therefore, I think, it is technically impossible to file one case, unite them all because different courts are hearing different cases," Petrenko told journalists in Kyiv on Monday.

The justice minister said there would be additional cases, additional grounds for these cases, which have already been started. "This is a fact," he said.

"We are currently completing preparations for a big legal position on Donbas for the European Court of Human Rights. A lot of materials will also be sent to the International Court of Justice, which is hearing the case in The Hague next year," he said.

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