The Hague Court Recognized Russia’s Violation of Maritime Law, but Left Ukraine Without Compensation

The International Court of Justice in The Hague has ruled that Russia violated some maritime law rules by building a bridge across the Kerch Strait. The final ruling, however, leaves Ukraine without compensation and without satisfying a significant portion of its remaining claims.

This was reported by Boris Babin, an expert with the Crimea Reintegration Association, and Reuters. 

On Monday, June 15, an international arbitration panel ruled that Russia violated some maritime law rules by building a bridge across the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea, but rejected Ukraine’s claims that Moscow had illegally attempted to keep the strait under its exclusive control.

The case in The Hague was filed in 2016 after Russia began construction of the 19-kilometer (12-mile) Crimean Bridge connecting the peninsula.

In its April 22 decision, which was only announced on Monday in accordance with the arbitration court’s procedures, the court rejected most of Ukraine’s claims regarding Russia’s control over the strait on procedural grounds.

The court concluded that Russia had violated some maritime laws by failing to conduct proper environmental assessments during the construction of the bridge. The five-judge panel did not award any compensation and ordered both parties to pay their own legal costs for the procedure, which lasted ten years.

Boris Babin, an expert with the Crimea Reintegration Association, noted that, among other things, the arbitration took a position on the regime of the Sea of ​​Azov as “internal waters of two countries,” which allowed it to reject a significant number of claims in the field of shipping.

“The arbitration included only Russia’s failure to comply with Articles 123, 192, 194, 205 and 206 of the Convention during the construction of the Kerch Bridge, gas pipelines and cables across the strait as established violations of the Convention, this concerns evasion of cooperation on environmental protection and failure to disclose relevant information,” stressed Boris Babin.

We will recall that Ukraine initiated separate proceedings against the Russian Federation on September 14, 2016. The reason for the lawsuit is Russia’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula and obstruction of shipping in the Azov and Black Seas, as well as the Kerch Strait. The aggressor country was also accused of stealing natural resources.