The Hague court rejected Russia’s request to disqualify a judge in the case of the capture of Ukrainian sailors
7.05.2025 - 14:41
The Hague Arbitration Court has rejected Russia’s request to challenge a judge in the case of Ukrainian sailors in the Kerch Strait.
The arbitration court has rejected Russia’s request to challenge Judge James Kateki, whom Russia has accused of being biased, Ukrinform reports.
The court is considering the case of the detention of Ukrainian warships and sailors in the Kerch Strait in November 2018.
On May 6, the Hague Court published a decision rejecting Russia’s request to challenge Judge James Kateki in the arbitration proceedings against Ukraine.
The request for challenge was considered by three arbitrators without Kateki’s participation. Most of them saw no reason to doubt his impartiality, as the judge’s actions did not violate the standards of arbitration practice. Two of the three judges voted to reject the request, considering Russia’s grounds insufficient. One person opposed the case, Russian arbitrator Alexander Vilyegzhanin.
The complaint from Russia was based on Judge Kateki’s participation in the international declaration of aggression against Ukraine, his activity on social networks, and his participation in the issuance of interim measures.
Earlier, USM reported that the arrested Russian ship that was blocking the Kerch Strait would be sold for 2 million.
As a reminder, the tanker Nika Spirit, previously known as Neyma, was detained on July 24, 2019 in the port of Izmail. According to Equasis, it was identified as the ship that was blocking the Kerch Strait in November 2018. Then, Russian border guards seized Ukrainian warships with 24 crew members at gunpoint.
