ECtHR found Russia guilty: what does this mean for Ukrainians and does it open the way to compensation?

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russia systematically violated the rights of Ukrainians since 2014. This decision opens the way for the consideration of thousands of individual complaints and can become key evidence for future compensation payments through international and national mechanisms. Although it is no longer possible to file new lawsuits with the ECHR after September 16, 2022, victims will be able to use this decision in other jurisdictions and the register of damages.

This was stated by Margarita Sokorenko, the Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights Affairs, during an online briefing, as reported by UNN.

Details

When asked about the practical consequences of this decision for Ukrainians and whether Ukraine's victory in the ECHR means that all those affected by Russian aggression will have the opportunity to demand compensation from Russia, Sokorenko noted the following:

After September 16, because we have this procedural decision regarding the termination of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms for the Russian Federation due to its expulsion from the Council of Europe because of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after September 16, the European Court cannot consider, will not take into account relevant complaints

At the same time, according to her, this does not mean that the decision is useless, "it's just that the mechanism of the European Court is no longer available after September 16."

Since 2014, the European Court has received a very large number of individual complaints, specifically complaints from our citizens. At this time, there are about 7,000. And in order to better consider these individual complaints, at one time the European Court decided to temporarily suspend their consideration in order to make a decision within the framework of the interstate claim, since it is more comprehensive and global and covered the complaints of the Government of Ukraine regarding the existence of administrative practice of violations, that is, everything that was in the individual complaints

Currently, the issue of compensation has not yet been considered, but a separate mechanism is already being created for this.

The European Court in today's decision also indicated that future issues regarding fair satisfaction, they should be considered within the framework of this compensation mechanism that Ukraine is creating. Currently, the stage of creating a compensation commission, the register of damages is already functioning and is gradually being filled.

The Commissioner emphasized that although new lawsuits to the ECHR are no longer accepted, the decision is still important and can be used "in relevant appeals by our citizens, because it is precisely about the existence of a system of violations, similar, repetitive violations by the Russian Federation."

The use of ECHR conclusions is also possible in Ukrainian courts, "they will also be very useful and even fundamental for relevant complaints at the national level to our courts."

Regarding the question of how Russia will feel this decision, Sokorenko replied: 

We observed this from the experience of other countries that had interstate lawsuits against the Russian Federation. This includes Georgia, which won several interstate lawsuits, was awarded compensation, and Russia never paid them. Similarly, there were individual lawsuits regarding human rights violations in Transnistria, where the European Court also said that Russia is responsible for those violations, as it controls the relevant organizations. The Russian Federation also invented countless options on how not to implement these decisions, and, accordingly, people there did not receive compensation.

Despite this, Ukraine's legal position is strengthened against the background of this decision, and it will become a new stage in further actions in order "to not just have certain legal decisions, but also to have certain active actions not only from Ukraine and the Council of Europe, but also from our partners."

Addition

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Ukraine in the case against the Russian Federation. This decision confirms human rights violations by the Russian Federation.