International Court of Justice overview: application of the International Convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism and of the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (Ukraine v. Russian Federation, Merits, Judgment, 13th January 2024)

Abstract

On 31 January 2024, the International Court of Justice issued its judgment
on the Merits of the case Ukraine v. Russian Federation concerning alleged vio-
lations of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism (hereinafter ICSFT) and the International Convention on the Elimi-
nation of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter CERD).
Ukraine initiated the proceedings in 2017 after the occurrence of events in
the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 claiming that the Russian Federation acted in
breach of numerous provisions of the above-mentioned conventions. In regard
to the ICSFT, Ukraine claimed that Russia violated Articles 8(1), 9(1), 10(1),
12(1) and 18(1), as it provided armed groups involved in terrorist acts in the
territory of Ukraine with funding, weaponry and training. Ukraine, also, re-
ferred to the Russian Federation’s failure to freeze or seize monetary resources
used for terrorism funding, to investigate or prosecute alleged offenders and
to cooperate with the Applicant in the relevant criminal investigations.