On March 3, 2022, the White House released a statement outlining its decision to target “additional Russian elites and family members who continue supporting President Putin despite his brutal invasion of Ukraine.” The statement announced that “[t]hese individuals and their family members will be cut off from the U.S. financial system,” which includes having their assets in the United States frozen and their property blocked from use. The statement also announced that “the United States and governments all over the world will work to identify and freeze the assets.” The statement...
International Law in Brief
International Law in Brief (ILIB) is a forum that provides updates on current developments in international law from the editors of ASIL's International Legal Materials.
On March 2, 2022, the United States became the sixth signatory to the 2019 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, following Costa Rica, Israel, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Uruguay. The Convention was signed on behalf of the U.S. by Ms. Jennifer DeWitt Walsh, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission. The Convention aims to "facilitate[...] the effective international circulation of judgments in civil or commercial matters" through a set of harmonized conditions for recognition and enforcement. The Convention will enter into force...
On February 27, 2022, the Security Council held an emergency special session of the General Assembly on the Ukraine Crisis, adopting Resolution 2623 (2022) by 11 Votes in Favor, 1 Against, and 3 Abstentions. Specifically, the special session was held to answer the question of “whether to use armed force, when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.” Russia was the only state to vote against the resolution. According to a UN press release, in speaking on Russia’s decision to veto the Resolution “[t]he speaker for the United States said the Russian Federation may...
On February 24, 2022, following Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the early hours of the morning, both the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) announced sanctions against Russia.
Specifically, Reuters reports that EU officials have announced that they “[would] impose new sanctions on Russia, freezing its assets, halting its banks' access to European financial markets and hitting 'Kremlin interests’ over its invasion of Ukraine.” The goal of these sanctions is said to push Russia’s leadership to face “unprecedented isolation." More specifically, according to JURIST, the EU froze...
On February 28, 2022, ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, announced his decision to investigate the situation in Ukraine. Mr. Khan notes that, though Ukraine is not a party to the Rome Statute, "it has twice exercised its prerogatives to legally accept the Court's jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute occurring on its territory, should the Court choose to exercise it." He stated that he has reviewed his Office's preliminary conclusions on the matter and has concluded "that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have...
On February 26, 2022, the International Court of Justice announced that Ukraine has instituted proceedings against the Russian Federation "relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." In the main, Ukraine argues that Russia has falsely alleged that Ukraine has committed genocidal acts in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine which has served as the basis for Russia's "special military operation" against Ukraine. Ukraine denies these allegations and accuses Russia of "planning acts of...
On February 21, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) responding to President Putin’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR), located in Ukraine, as “independent” states. According to the E.O. fact sheet released by the White House, the E.O. prohibits new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to form in those regions and “the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology from the so-called DNR or LNR regions of Ukraine,” among other things. Along with sanctions, the E.O. also...
On February 16, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed an action brought by Hungary and Poland challenging an EU regulation making disbursement of funding to the EU member states conditional on certain requirements, including respect for the rule of law. Specifically, the two states challenged the legal basis for the regulation. According to a press release from the Court, in dismissing the claims, the Court found that: “the regulation is intended to protect the Union budget from effects resulting, in a sufficiently direct way, from breaches of the principles of the...
On February 12, 2022, the U.S. Secretary of State, the Japanese Foreign Minister, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of Foreign Affairs issued a joint statement regarding the “critical importance of strong U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation as we seek to address the most pressing 21st Century challenges.” The statement focused on the importance of “trilateral cooperation” and emphasized the fact that the “three countries share[d] a common view of a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive, and shared respect for the rules-based international order.” In the joint statement,...
On February 9, 2022, The International Court of Justice in Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda) issued its judgment, on the questions of reparations, fixing the amount of compensation “due from the Republic of Uganda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] for the damage caused by the violations of international obligations by the Republic of Uganda, as found by the Court in its Judgment of 19 December 2005.” The judgment falls on the backdrop of a dispute concerning “acts of armed aggression" perpetrated by Uganda on...