Russia must immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine, directed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on March 16, 2022 in a 13-2 vote break-up. Indian Judge Dalveer Bhandari was among the 13 people voting to cease the aggressions.
“The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine… [It] 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,” said the ICJ in its order.
Members also unanimously asked both countries to refrain from aggravating or extending the dispute before the Court. The ICJ made its decision following an application from Ukraine asking the court to institute proceedings against Russia on February 26, concerning “a dispute . . . relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
Accordingly, The ICJ looked at the rights cited by Ukraine in its application and the link between such rights and the measures requested as well as the risk of irreparable prejudice and urgency. On March 7, Russia sent a document informing the Court that it lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case and requested to remove the same from its list. However, the ICJ concluded that the case meets the conditions to indicate provisional measures.
“It is therefore necessary, pending its final decision, for the Court to indicate certain measures in order to protect the right of Ukraine that the Court has found to be plausible,” said the Court.
Although the Court declined Ukraine’s request that Russia “provide a report” on measures taken to implement ICJ’s order, it still stressed the need for the Russian government to heed their decision.
“The Court reaffirms that its “orders on provisional measures under Article 41 [of the Statute] have binding effect” and thus create international legal obligations for any party to whom the provisional measures are addressed,” said the Court.
The decision was opposed only by ICJ Russian Vice President Kirill Gevorgian and Chinese Judge Xue Hanqin. The decision was celebrated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European and US officials.
Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered to immediately stop the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2022
I welcome the order by the International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ for Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.
Putin must heed this clear decision from the international community.
This unjustified war must stop.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 16, 2022
US welcomes ICJ order asking Russia to immediately suspend military operations in Ukraine
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 17, 2022
India’s stand on the war
Earlier, India abstained from voting on the United Nations resolution regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. For this reason, the favouring of the ICJ decision by an Indian judge caught the eye of many media organisations.
However, in a media briefing on March 17, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the judges work in their individual capacities. Bagchi argued that it would not be appropriate to comment on how ICJ judges vote.
“On the specific thing of the ICJ, I think that they work in their individual capacities. I’m not going to comment on whether the Russian citizen judge or the Chinese citizen judge voted one way or the other,” he said.
Further, he criticised the media description of India’s stand on the issue as “abstention”. He said that the situation is much more nuanced.
“I think that’s a very, very loose comment. We have abstained in voting on certain resolutions in certain organizations based on the text that is on the table. Our position has been clarified on various occasions through explanation of vote, which highlight various aspects,” he said.
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