Jurisdiction and Admissibility

Introduction Never before in the history of the Court have so many States’ representatives squeezed into the Great Hall of Justice for a contentious proceeding, as occurred in the preliminary objections hearings in Ukraine v. Russia which concluded on Wednesday. Not merely offering Ukraine and Russia a platform to trade political barbs, the proceedings raise a number of important questions including the proper role of intervenors, the Court’s capacity to issue a declaratory judgment of compliance with a treaty (rather than breach) and the limits of a compromissory clause. In this (long-ish) post, we endeavour to summarise the key arguments and important procedural points, offering some preliminary views on the likelihood of success for Russia’s objections. That’s … a Lot of Speeches The Court organised the proceedings carefully and some of the Judges had already raised concerns about the fairness of proceedings with so many States intervening as part of the Court’s decision on the admissibility of the intervention declarations. Article 86(2) of the ICJ’s Rules of Court requires that…