Loretta H. Rush, President of the Conference of Chief Justices, Urged Not to Be Silent in the Face of Russian Invasion of Ukraine

In her statement, the President of the Conference of Chief Justices, Chief Justice of Indiana (USA) Loretta H. Rush said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not simply the brute imposition of one nation’s will on the people of another, irrespective of their needs and desires. It is a blatant rejection, a denigration, a strike at the very principles of self-determination, human dignity, and freedom of thought, principles that are the heart of democracy, justice, and equality.

Loretta H. Rush called upon all judicial leaders, attorneys, and justice-system professionals in the United States and around the world to stand against Russia’s tyranny and raise their voices in support of the rule of law, human rights, and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

"As history has taught us, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. And we cannot do nothing," the statement emphasizes.

We invite you to read the text of the statement in the original language and its translation into Ukrainian, provided by Supreme Court Judge Tetiana Antsupova.

For more than 70 years, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) has been a voice for the fundamental principles of American justice.The conference was founded in post-war America to provide an opportunity for the highest judicial officers of the states to meet and discuss important issues of the administration of justice, procedural rules and methods, the organization and operation of the state courts, and to make recommendations and bring about the improvements on such matters. Membership in the Conference of Chief Justices consists of the highest judicial officers of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands.