The UN’s top court says it has jurisdiction in part of Ukraine’s genocide case against Russia

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Nations’ top court said Friday it has jurisdiction to rule on a request by Ukraine for a declaration that Kyiv is not responsible for genocide, but not on other aspects of a Ukrainian case against Russia. Ukraine filed its case at the International Court of Justice just days after Russia’s February 2022 invasion, alleging that Moscow used trumped-up claims of genocide to justify its attack that unleashed Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. The court said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on whether Russia’s invasion violated the 1948 genocide convention and whether Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine also amounted to a breach of the convention. Melanie O’Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, told The Associated Press in an email that the court “decided that it cannot adjudicate on Russia’s use of force — that is, its invasion of Ukraine — because even though this use of force may be a violation of international law, which prohibits the use of force except in self-defence or under a UN-mandated operation, it is a not a rule that exists under the Genocide Convention.” She said the decision could mean “that Ukraine may bring another case before the ICJ, this time under the UN Charter, which prohibits the unlawful use of force by states against other states.” Moscow argued last year that the court should throw out the case before even considering the merits of Kyiv’s claims, but the 16-judge panel will now go ahead. At hearings in September, the leader of Moscow’s legal team, Gennady Kuzmin, called Ukraine’s case “hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of this court.” A member of Moscow’s legal team, Sienho Yee, told judges in September that Russia had not used the genocide convention to justify its military actions in Ukraine, saying they “are based on the right to self-determination and its inherent right to self-defense.” At the same hearings, Ukraine insisted the court has jurisdiction and slammed Moscow for openly flouting an interim order by the court to halt its invasion.