Solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue has made an appearance at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on behalf of Australia to argue it has jurisdiction to hear a case against Russia for its “illegal and immoral” invasion of Ukraine.
Donaghue argued, at about 6pm AEST on Wednesday evening, that the ICJ has jurisdiction to hear the case.
The Australian solicitor-general’s appearance at the preliminary objections phase of the proceedings that have been brought by Ukraine supports the claim alleging Russia has violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
In March 2022, the ICJ ordered Vladimir Putin put a halt to the military invasion, one month after the shelling in Ukraine began.
In a majority ruling (13 votes to two [representing judges from Russia and China]) last year, the court said there was no evidence for the Kremlin’s justification of war and there was no basis for the claim Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the eastern region of Donetsk.
The ICJ also unanimously ordered an additional measure that both parties shall refrain from action that might aggravate or extend the dispute or make it more difficult to resolve.
Both Ukraine and Russia are party to the 1948 convention, article II of which defines genocide as certain acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
Ukraine’s ICJ hearing will run for several days. It began yesterday and is taking place one year and seven months since the Russian Federation began shelling neighbouring Ukraine and the nation declared a state of emergency,
Australia’s official position is that Russia made false allegations of genocide as a pretext to undermine the rules-based international order and invade Ukraine.
For months, Australia has been urging Russia to comply with the ICJ’s legally-binding order to immediately withdraw its military forces from Ukraine.
Attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and foreign minister Penny Wong endorsed Ukraine’s legal action in a statement on Wednesday. They said Australia wanted to remind Russia of its legal obligations as a member of the United Nations to comply with decisions of the ICJ.
Wong stressed Russia must be held to account for its illegal decision to invade.
“Australia’s intervention in the ICJ today is just one way we are supporting Ukraine to hold Russia to account,” the foreign minister said.
“We stand with the people of Ukraine and the 31 other countries who are supporting Ukraine in this case – we are stronger when we work together to address shared challenges.”
Other nations endorsing Ukraine’s ICJ claim include Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and the European Union.
A joint statement issued by the supporting nations last year said the losses and damage suffered by Ukraine as a result of Russia’s violations of international law required full and urgent reparation in accordance with the law of state responsibility.
The A-G added Australia’s intervention support at the ICJ reflected the Australian government’s commitment to the integrity of the Genocide Convention and fundamental rules of international law.
“Australia stands unequivocally with Ukraine in its fight to hold Russia accountable for the despicable allegations used as the pretext for its illegal and immoral invasion,” Dreyfus said.
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