Ukraine secures landmark Human Rights Court ruling amid active ear

For the first time in history, Ukraine has received a ruling from an international human rights court before the active phase of a war had ended.

Kyiv successfully demonstrated in court that russia forcibly occupies Crimea and continues to commit systematic human rights violations. The European Court’s judgment, issued while hostilities are ongoing, marks an unprecedented precedent in international judicial practice, according to Marharyta Sokorenko, Agent for the European Court of Human Rights, who spoke at the Fourth International Forum of the International Crimea Platform Expert Network.

“The Crimean lawsuit sets the first precedent in which the European Court of Human Rights affirmed for Ukraine that russia’s occupation of Crimea was illegal and forceful. Establishing this fact was crucial, as since 2014, russia has sought to present a legal and political narrative denying the seizure of Crimea, instead framing it as a so-called referendum,” Sokorenko said.

She stressed that these legal milestones should not be seen as a conclusion. In 2022, the European Court of Justice recognized the subsequent stages of russian aggression, including the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, followed by all-out invasion.

“These court decisions were not an end in themselves. What mattered was documenting precisely where and how the aggression and human rights violations occurred,” Sokorenko added.

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