The Constraints of International Courts as a Tool for Resolving the Ukrainian-Russian Conflicts

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 371-406
Author(s):  
Nikolay Marin ◽  
Bilyana Manova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Justice ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Legal Remedies ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
International Attention ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Military

Abstract: This article addresses the large number of cases brought by Ukraine before different international courts and tribunals against the Russian Federation following the inclusion of Crimea in Russia and the military conflicts in Eastern Ukraine that ensued. The initiation of numerous legal proceedings is presented as a part of an overall Ukrainian strategy to respond to the loss of Crimea, both in order to obtain specific legal remedies and to draw international attention to its cause. The characteristics of the Ukrainian-Russian proceedings that stem from the political significance of this conflict are addressed. The implications of these cases for international law, and the constraints on the existing system of international justice that have been revealed are also evaluated. It is shown that Ukraine often faces difficulties establishing a jurisdictional basis for its claims. Russia's reluctance to submit the disputes to examination by international courts, manifested in its frequent challenging of their jurisdiction, is explained both by the fact that it is aware of its violations and anticipates adverse judgments, and that it may regard such courts as somewhat hostile towards it. These phenomena are analysed in the larger context of the trend in international politics towards a declining trust in international cooperation.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

Non-Participation in Compulsory Procedures of Dispute Settlement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Franckx ◽  
Marco Benatar
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
People’S Republic Of China ◽  
People's Republic Of China ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Joint Declaration ◽  
Peculiar Form ◽  
The Russian Federation

Erik Franckx and Marco Benatar consider the peculiar backlash in the form of states rejecting the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals (ICs). They discuss how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) rejected jurisdiction in the Philippines v PRC arbitration. The authors draw comparisons with how the Russian Federation rejected the jurisdiction of an arbitration panel in the Arctic Sunrise case. But both states participated in the peculiar form of forwarding ‘position papers’. This allows states new modes of influencing the bench without formally participating in the proceedings, argues Franckx and Benatar. This may tempt other states to apply a similar approach. For example, Croatia has presented its views to an arbitration panel in a dispute with Slovenia, despite its non-participation after irregularities by one of the arbitrators. The PRC and the Russian Federation have also issued a joint declaration encouraging non-participation in international legal proceedings.

scholarly journals SOVIET MILITARY PERIODICAL PRESS DURING THE RED ARMY’S CAMPAIGN IN EUROPE, MARCH 1944 – MAY 1945: STRUCTURE, NORMS, AND PERSONNEL

2020 ◽  
pp. 100-108
Author(s):  
A. G. Arinov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Periodical Press ◽  
Editorial Boards ◽  
Russian State ◽  
War Correspondents ◽  
Red Army ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Civilian Employees ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

The case of the Soviet military periodicals during the Red Army's campaign in Europe (March 1944 – May 1945) is analyzed in the paper based on the materials from the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (TsAMO RF) and the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI). The author analyzes the structure of military periodicals, characterizes the norms established by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army (GlavPURKKA) regulating the work of military periodicals, and traces the relationship between editorial boards and war correspondents. It is stated that the editorial boards of military periodicals consisted, as a rule, of 27 employees: 19 military personnel and 8 civilian employees. GlavPURKKA controlled the military periodical press. The circulation of military newspapers was determined by the orders of the chief of GlavPURKKA and was repeatedly increased or reduced. The content was controlled by the political administrations of the fronts. GlavPURKKA regulated the main directions of newspapers’ development and revealed shortcomings in the work of editorial boards. Constant supervision by GlavPURKKA and political administrations of the fronts protruded “relations” between editorial boards and war correspondents. The political administrations urged the editorial boards to establish a comprehensive contact with war correspondents and to eliminate the existing shortcomings in working with them. On the whole, the institute of military periodicals was a rather complex “organism” that underwent various changes and improvements throughout the period.

scholarly journals Muslim Minority in Myanmar: A Case Study of Myanmar Government and Rohingya Muslims

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Ismail Suardi Wekke ◽  
Hasbi Hasbi ◽  
M Mawardin ◽  
Suyatno Ladiqi ◽  
Mohd Afandi Salleh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Political ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
International Attention ◽  
The Government

<p>The discrimination suffered by Rohingya Muslims is increasingly blewed up in media in last decade. The peak of the discriminatory treatment against Rohingya Muslim by Myanmar government is the unavailability of shelter from Myanmar government. In the perspective of international law, Myanmar government's actions constitute a serious violence, because it ignores the rights of its citizens. Even a series of massacres and inhumane treatment became a major offense committed by Myanmar government in terms of humanity. This attracted international attention in solving the problem. This article illustrated the fate of Rohingyas who are not given citizenship rights by Myanmar government. It also revealed the irony of Muslims of Rohingya life who are discriminated by the government of Myanmar, both in the practical as well as in the political context.</p><p>Diskriminasi yang diderita oleh Muslim Rohingya semakin mengemuka di media dalam dekade terakhir. Puncak perlakuan diskriminatif terhadap Muslim Rohingya adalah tidak tersedianya tempat tinggal dari pemerintah Myanmar. Dalam perspektif hukum internasional, tindakan pemerintah Myanmar ini merupakan bentuk kekerasan yang serius, karena mengabaikan hak warganya. Selain itu serangkaian pembantaian dan perlakuan tidak manusiawi menjadi pelanggaran besar yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah Myanmar dalam hal kemanusiaan. Hal ini menarik perhatian dunia internasional dalam upaya memberikan solusi atas permasalahan-permasalahan tersebut. Artikel ini selain menggambarkan nasib warga Rohingya yang tidak diberikan hak kewarganegaraan oleh pemerintah Myanmar, juga mengungkap ironi Muslim dari kehidupan Rohingya yang didiskriminasi oleh pemerintah Myanmar, baik dalam praktik maupun dalam konteks politik.</p>

scholarly journals The Russian-Ukrainian War in Ukrainian Political Discourse

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Antonina Berezovenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
State Identity ◽  
Adequate Response ◽  
Political Narrative ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Military ◽  
Ukrainian Society

The proposed article aims to explore the discursive dynamics of Ukraine caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The semantic and pragmatic dominants of relevant political texts were revealed by the method of discursive and content analysis. The article considers the peculiarities of the political discourse of Ukraine after the beginning of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in 2014. Discursive changes in wartime are analyzed through comparisons with the pre-war state, the leading feature of which was the mode of „brotherhood” with Russia. In the course of the analysis it was established that there was no logical immediate change to a „hostile” discourse with the beginning of the Russian aggression. Ukraine was unprepared for an adequate response to Russia's military aggression not only in real but also in discursive terms. Instead, a euphemistic complex was formed in Ukrainian political discourse to present Russia's aggressive actions as something else, something different. In this regard, an attempt is made to analyze the reasons for the belated response of Ukrainian society, especially the leading echelon of Ukrainian politics, to external aggression. Particular attention as a reason for this state of affairs is paid to post-totalitarian influences, which remain relevant to the socio-political dynamics of Ukraine. Among the key ones is the lack of a full-fledged historical and political narrative and the reproduction of mental schemes of the totalitarian past. Along with this, positive changes in the representation of the Russian-Ukrainian military confrontation as such were identified and studied. The discursive mechanisms of creating a narrative adequate to the military situation and discursive means that oppose Russian aggression are analyzed. At the same time, it was found that in the process of forming a specific discursive order, certain canons and standards of the former metropoly remain relevant in the Ukrainian context. First of all, it concerns the inclusion of substandard elements in the official communicative repertoire as a tool of information confrontation in hybrid aggression. The article concludes that a holistic historical and political narrative is the cornerstone for the formation of national and state identity. Without this, the establishment of a full-blooded state subjectivity of Ukraine appears to be an extremely difficult task. In modern Ukrainian realities, we have not a uniquely specific political discourse as part of a detailed historical and political narrative, but a post-totalitarian discursive surrogate, in the mirror of which even the contrasting notions of war and peace lose the necessary clarity. Key words: Russian-Ukrainian war, political discourse, historical and political narrative, post-totalitarian consciousness.

The main approaches to the definition of the international courts’ competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Yu. Klyuchnikov
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Justice ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Personal Jurisdiction ◽  
Interpretative Framework

The rules on the competence of international courts determine the nature of the cases they resolve and the conditions for their admission to proceedings. The possibility composition of the court considers each case individually following the principle of jurisdiction to decide the jurisdiction due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework. Each international court of justice, relying on the international law, is solely competent to resolve doubts as to its own jurisdiction. This study aims to identify the approach of courts to solving jurisdictional problems in practice. The material for the study includes the cases of international courts, doctrinal comments, and legal positions of prominent researchers of international justice. The author describes the basic interpretative framework procedure, restraint, activism in the justification, and the lack of personal jurisdiction. Thus, if the international court of justice has no confidence in the existence of competence on the subject of the dispute, it will not take measures to justify it. The brevity of the position on the issue will be due to interpretative restraint. Activism arises when the international court of justice seeks to achieve a procedural result, substantiate the rationality of the result of interpretation or the impossibility of achieving it. Science has not resolved the issue of factors that may affect the limits of interpretation by international courts of their own competence.

With Friends Like These

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozan O. Varol
Keyword(s):  
Political Leadership ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Military Equipment ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
The Military

This chapter discusses two questions: (1) Why might a military that once supported a dictatorship turn against it? and (2) Why would a military voluntarily choose to abandon the comfort and certainty of a dictatorship for the uncertain reality of democracy? It argues that democracy promotion is often not the principal driver of democratic coups. Rather, militaries stage coups primarily to depose a regime unfavorable to the military’s interests. If the regime doesn’t treat the military well, the soldiers may set aside their previous loyalty and identify more with the protesters’ grievances. Mistreatment can come in the form of low-level, outdated military equipment; costly and unpopular military conflicts; or military defeat, for which military officers may blame the political leadership. In addition, when the survival of a dictatorship is in serious doubt—when it’s clear that the regime is about to sink—the military may defect to avoid sinking along with it. And in deposing a dictator and assuming power during the resulting power vacuum, the military will position itself to reap the benefits of early defection.

scholarly journals International Law Scholars as Amici Curiae: An Emerging Dialogue (of the Deaf)?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1081-1101
Author(s):  
AVIDAN KENT ◽  
JAMIE TRINIDAD
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Advocacy Groups ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way ◽  
Productive Engagement

AbstractInternational law scholars frequently seek to participate in international legal proceedings as amici curiae. Often they do so by ‘piggy-backing’ onto the submissions of NGOs and other advocacy groups. Occasionally – but increasingly in recent years – they do so in their own names, purporting to offer ‘pure’ academic expertise, and generating certain expectations of scholarly neutrality. This article focuses on the latter trend, which the authors argue has the potential to re-shape the scholar-adjudicator dialogue in interesting ways. Under the traditional approach towards ‘teachings’, the decision of whether, how and with whom to engage is firmly in the hands of the adjudicators. The proliferation of academic amicus briefs threatens to disrupt this arrangement. It also brings certain benefits: the briefs are often more ‘on point’ than doctrinal writings, while openness to unsolicited academic submissions encourages plurality and reduces reliance on reputation as a measure of scholarly quality. Our survey of the emerging practice across various international courts and tribunals indicates that adjudicators tend to be reticent when it comes to the reception of unsolicited academic amicus briefs, however, we identify several instances of productive engagement. This leads us to conclude that it would be unduly gloomy to characterize the emerging practice as a ‘dialogue of the deaf’. A fairer assessment would be that the academic amicus trend is bringing about a modest adjustment in the way that international law scholars and adjudicators engage with each other.

Classifying the conflict: a soldier's dilemma

2009 ◽  
Vol 91 (873) ◽  
pp. 143-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Carswell
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Military Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
The Law ◽  
Riot Control ◽  
The Military

AbstractModern armed forces are employed in a wide array of operations that range from peacetime riot control to outright international armed conflict. Classifying these various scenarios to determine the applicable international law is rendered difficult by both the lack of clarity inherent in the law and the political factors that tend to enter the decision-making process. The author describes the major challenges of legal classification facing the military leadership, and proposes a solution to ensure that the intended beneficiaries of the law – from soldiers to civilians – do indeed receive its protection.

scholarly journals IMPROVING MEDICAL SUPPORT FOR EVENTS TO TRAIN MILITARY PERSONNEL TO PERFORM TASKS IN THE HIGHLANDS

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
E A Soldatov ◽  
A S Anisimov ◽  
V A Blinov ◽  
N V Belkin
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Northern Caucasus ◽  
Medical Support ◽  
South Ossetia ◽  
Mountain Landscape ◽  
Military Conflicts ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Military

Most of the military conflicts in the last decades with participation of the Armed forces of our country took place in the mountain landscape, namely Afghanistan, counterterrorist operations in the Northern Caucasus, peacemaking missions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The warriors passed through «trouble spots» know that a war in mountains is not the same as a war in plain and it requires special preparation. It is necessary to take into consideration factors of climate and geography which influence medical provision in mountains as well as sanitary casualty’s formation and mode of evacuation and treatment. Based on literature data, the historical facts of warfare conduction in mountains were presented. Factors of climate and geography adversely affected the human health during warfare conduction in mountains. The analysis of the mountain training medical provision organization was carried out. Based on that some proposals for improvement of mountain training medical provision of military personnel of the Armies forces of the Russian Federation were formulated

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