The Supreme Court judge spoke about the compensation mechanism for damages and destruction of housing resulting from the armed aggression of the russian federation 

Judges of the Supreme Court joined the discussion of the main trends in the development of national remedies and compensation mechanisms, which took place in the framework of the International Roundtable "Compensation for Damages, Losses and Injuries Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine".

The roundtable participants discussed the issues covered in the expert report within the framework of the Council of Europe's cooperation projects "Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine" and "Support for the functioning of justice in the war and post-war context in Ukraine", implemented through the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2023-2026 "Resilience, Recovery and Rehabilitation".

Maryna Chervynska, Secretary of the Second Judicial Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, informed the roundtable participants about the administrative mechanism of compensation for damage and destruction of housing caused by the russian aggression which was introduced by the Law of Ukraine "On Compensation for Damage and Destruction of Certain Categories of Real Estate as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the State Register of Property Damaged and Destroyed as a Result of Hostilities, Terrorist Acts, Sabotage Caused by the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine". It allows victims to receive compensation for damage and destruction of housing without litigation, while at the same time transferring the right of claim against the aggressor state to the state / territorial community.

The judge emphasised that according to this law, once the claimant receives compensation for the destroyed housing, he enters into an agreement assigning the right to claim damages for the destroyed real estate to the state or territorial community. However, this mechanism does not provide for an obligation for a claimant within the scope of the Law to disclose information about filing a claim for compensation for the same damage in courts when receiving compensation under the Law.

The event also discussed the problematic issues of compensation for moral damages, losses and injuries caused by the aggression of the russian federation, given the lack of legislative regulation of these issues, unlike the legally defined administrative mechanism of compensation for damage and destruction of housing. In addition, an overview of the case law on claims against the state of Ukraine, against the russian federation, the resolution of problematic issues regarding the judicial immunity of the aggressor state and, accordingly, the possibility of admission and enforcement of decisions on recovery of compensation from the aggressor state for moral damages, injuries, etc.

Other participants of the roundtable included Olha Stupak, Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, Mykola Himon, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Administrative Cassation Court, Svitlana Yakovlieva, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Criminal Cassation Court, and Natalia Volkovytska, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Commercial Cassation Court.

The event was organised by the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, the International Organisation for Migration and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).