“How to hold Russia accountable for the invasion of Ukraine?” with Professor Harold Koh and Mr. Patrick W. Pearsall

“How to hold Russia accountable for the invasion of Ukraine?” with Professor Harold Koh and Mr. Patrick W. Pearsall

 

NICOLE BREDARIOL & OMER DURU*

“How to hold Russia accountable for the invasion of Ukraine?”

On November 16, 2022, the Harvard International Law Journal and Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association hosted a speaker series discussing one of the most pressing international law questions confronting the world today: how to hold Russia accountable for the invasion of Ukraine?

Keynote speakers, Professor Harold Koh of Yale Law School and Mr. Patrick Pearsall, Director of Columbia Law School’s International Claims and Reparations Project, challenged the invisible college of international lawyers to help protect the global order.[1] Invoking the image on Achilles’ shield, one of history’s greatest warriors, as a metaphor for arbitration playing a significant role in post-conflict dispute resolution, Mr. Pearsall addressed how international arbitration in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine can help international law rise to this challenge. Professor Koh, discussing his role as counsel to Ukraine before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), posed an existential challenge to the Court during his closing arguments in March 2022, asking if it was powerless to stop naked aggression and war crimes. He framed the current events not as Russia versus Ukraine, but rather Russia versus the post-World War II international legal order, and implored the ICJ to act.

The international community has answered the call twice now, first when the ICJ issued a 13-2 order on provisional measures that Russia “shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine.”[2] On 7 November 2022, the international community responded again when ninety-four members of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to hold Russia accountable for its violations of international law, recognized the need for an international mechanism for reparations for damage, loss, and injury arising from Russia’s internationally wrongful acts, and recommended the creation of an international register of damage to preserve evidence and claims.[3]

Mr. Pearsall indicated the UNGA Resolution of 7 November 2022 creates the necessary framework for the establishment of a claims commission to account for Russia’s wrongful acts.  Citing historical precedent for the establishment of post-conflict claims commissions, Mr. Pearsall asserted that a claims commission solely empowered with the authority to issue final and binding awards, is the most efficient and fair mechanism to ensure claims are lawfully adjudicated.  Estimating that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused in excess of $1 trillion in damages, Mr. Pearsall warned that Russia remaining an international pariah and outcast from global financial markets will have more detrimental effects on conflict resolution; thus, a claims commission is a necessary step for Russia’s reintegration into the global order.

Now the task falls to the invisible college of international lawyers to turn this call into action. Both Professor Koh and Mr. Pearsall asserted that the way forward should include interested States creating a commission through multilateral agreement, identifying the details of a claims register of harm, and determining how a Russia-Ukraine conflict claims commission will be funded.  The Russia-Ukraine conflict will shape the next forty years of global relations; this is a unique opportunity for rising lawyers to become directly involved in the evolution of international law.  As the speakers highlighted, the “train is just getting into the station, so get onboard.”


*Nicole Bredariol and Omer Duru are Harvard Law School LL.M Candidates, Class of 2023. They are focusing their studies on international humanitarian law and national security law.

1[1] Oscar Schachter, The Invisible College of International Lawyers, 72 Nw. U. L. Rev. 217 (1977).

2[2] Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukr. v. Russ.), Order, ¶ 86 (Mar. 16, 2022), https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/182/182-20220316-ORD-01-00-EN.pdf.

3[3] G.A. Res. L.6/2022, U.N. Doc. A/ES-11/L/6 (Nov. 7, 2022).

A Conversation with European Commission Executive VP Valdis Dombrovskis

A Conversation with European Commission Executive VP Valdis Dombrovskis

A Conversation with European Commission Executive VP Valdis Dombrovskis

Saturday, October 15, 2022

11:00am – 12:30pm EST

Location: Wasserstein Hall 2019

Register Here!

Please join us over brunch for a speech and conversation with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President and highest ranking official responsible for Economy & Trade. EVP Dombrovskis will present his perspectives for strengthening EU-U.S. bilateral relations and reviving transatlantic trade and geopolitical leadership in a fragmenting global landscape. Following these remarks, he will engage in conversation with Professor Mark Wu of Harvard Law School and take questions from the audience.

Sponsored by the European Union Seminar at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, HLS International Legal Studies, and the Belfer Center Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, in conjunction with the Harvard International Law Journal.

A Conversation with European Union Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis at Harvard Law School

A Conversation with European Union Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis at Harvard Law School

A Conversation with European Union Ambassador to the U.S. Stavros Lambrinidis

at Harvard Law School

Tuesday, April 5 2022, 2.30 – 3.30 pm EST

Location: Wasserstein Hall 2004

Register Here!

The Harvard International Law Journal and Harvard European Law Association are pleased to welcome Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis to campus for an interactive discussion with students and faculty on the future of transatlantic relations!

Ambassador Lambrinidis began his tenure as Ambassador of the EU to the United States in March 2019. He joins us at a pivotal time for EU-U.S. relations, as policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic work to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the regulation of emerging technologies, climate change, and the global rise of authoritarianism. Mark Wu, Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and former Senior Advisor in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will moderate the conversation.

Prior to his current role, Ambassador Lambrinidis served as the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights, Foreign Affairs Minister of Greece, and Member of the European Parliament. He received a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Amherst College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

This event is held in compliance with Harvard Law School’s updated health and safety protocols. Open to all members of the Harvard community.

MODERNIZING THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: THE CRIME OF ECOCIDE

MODERNIZING THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: THE CRIME OF ECOCIDE

MODERNIZING THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: THE CRIME OF ECOCIDE

Organized by Harvard International Law Journal in collaboration with Stop Ecocide International and Parliamentarians for Global Action

Wednesday 23 March 2022, 1.00 – 2.15 pm EST

Register at bit.ly/3IdJy8F

A litany of environmental harms perpetrated by individuals, companies, and governments are escalating across the globe.  These harms are causing devastation in the communities they are affecting, and ultimately threaten the future for all. Though there is widespread agreement that the environment must be protected, international enforcement systems are lacking.  Accountability and deterrence for environmental harms constituting ecocide are desperately needed.

The International Criminal Court plays an important role in the promotion of global justice and peace. Currently, its jurisdiction is limited to war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.  To reflect the severity of environmental harms constituting ecocide, and to enhance accountability and deterrence on the international level, the Rome Statute could be amended to expand the Court’s jurisdiction to the crime of ecocide.  This event discusses the need to criminalize ecocide, and the advocacy currently underway to expand the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, including the definition of ecocide proposed by Stop Ecocide’s independent expert panel.

This discussion will cover:  an introduction to the necessity of criminalising ecocide under the Rome Statute; an overview of the work currently underway by Stop Ecocide, including the Expert Panel’s report; discussion of intersection with environmental law principles; next steps from here.