16 March 2022
Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation)
The Court indicates provisional measures
THE HAGUE, 16 March 2022. The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has today delivered its Order on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Ukraine in the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).
In its Order, which has binding effect, the Court indicates the following provisional measures:
1. By thirteen votes to two,
The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Sebutinde, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth; Judge ad hoc Daudet;
AGAINST: Vice-President Gevorgian; Judge Xue;
2. By thirteen votes to two,
The Russian Federation shall ensure that any military or irregular armed units which may be directed or supported by it, as well as any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control or direction, take no steps in furtherance of the military operations referred to in point (1) above;
IN FAVOUR: President Donoghue; Judges Tomka, Abraham, Bennouna, Yusuf, Sebutinde, Bhandari, Robinson, Salam, Iwasawa, Nolte, Charlesworth; Judge ad hoc Daudet;
AGAINST: Vice-President Gevorgian; Judge Xue;
3. Unanimously,
Both Parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the Court or make it more difficult to resolve.
Vice-President GEVORGIAN appends a declaration to the Order of the Court; Judges BENNOUNA and XUE append declarations to the Order of the Court; Judge ROBINSON appends a separate opinion to the Order of the Court; Judge NOLTE appends a declaration to the Order of the Court; Judge ad hoc DAUDET appends a declaration to the Order of the Court.
History of the proceedings
The history of the proceedings can be found in press releases Nos. 2022/4, 2022/7 and 2022/8, available on the Court’s website.
A summary of the Order appears in the document entitled “Summary 2022/2”, to which summaries of the declarations and opinion are annexed. This summary and the full text of the Order are available on the Court’s website under the heading Cases.
Note: The Court’s press releases are prepared by its Registry for information purposes only and do not constitute official documents.
You can read and download the order below:
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States; and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system.