Serhii Pohribnyi Told the British INSTITUTE FOR WAR & PEACE REPORTING About Limiting Russia's Judicial Immunity

Supreme Court Judge Serhii Pohribnyi gave an interview to the Ukraine Justice Report project of the British INSTITUTE FOR WAR & PEACE REPORTING (IWPR) about limiting Russia's judicial immunity.

He explained how the Supreme Court had justified decisions allowing Ukrainian courts to consider lawsuits against the aggressor country without its consent, how the findings of the Supreme Court would influence the consideration of relevant cases and how such decisions could be enforced. 

Link to the interview (English) - https://iwpr.net/global-voices/limiting-russia-judicial-immunity.

Link to the interview (Ukrainian) – https://cutt.ly/ZMSVsyJ. 

The Supreme Court emphasised that a necessary condition for compliance with the principle of international law regarding judicial immunity was the mutual recognition of state sovereignty by another country. So when the aggressor country denies the sovereignty of Ukraine and commits a war of aggression against it, there is no obligation to respect and observe the sovereignty of this country.

Moreover, human rights are more important than absolute immunity. In the case of the application of the absolute immunity of the country that committed the aggression, the plaintiff is deprived of the opportunity to obtain any judicial protection of his violated rights. "It is absurd to think that a person can go to the court of the aggressor country and get protection of violated rights when the aggressor state denies the existence of your people and country. Consideration by a Ukrainian court is the only possible way to resolve such claims," said Serhii Pohribnyi.

IWPR (The Institute for War and Peace Reporting) is an independent nonprofit organization that trains and provides publishing opportunities for professional and citizen journalists. It is governed by a board of trustees composed of senior journalists, peace-building and human rights experts, business and NGO professionals.  

Ukraine Justice Report is an IWPR project that aims to expand access, in particular to international audiences, to fair, accurate and reliable independent information on the judicial processes related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.