It is proposed to direct frozen assets of the Russian Federation to compensate Ukraine for ECHR decisions

Russian state assets frozen abroad could be used to pay compensation to Ukraine under decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is proposing to create a separate mechanism that would allow Russian funds to be directed to the implementation of such decisions.

We are talking about hundreds of billions of euros

The ECHR has already found Russia responsible for serious human rights violations in two interstate cases related to Ukraine. At the same time, the Court has not yet determined the final amount of compensation that the Russian Federation must pay to Ukraine.

The PACE suggests that the amounts could range from billions to tens or even hundreds of billions of euros, given the scale of the damage caused to Ukraine.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, about 260 billion euros of Russian state assets were frozen abroad, of which approximately 210 billion euros are in EU countries.

PACE proposes to create a separate mechanism

The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs believes that using frozen Russian assets to compensate Ukraine could be a legitimate response to Russia’s violation of international law.

To this end, they propose to create a special procedure under the auspices of the Council of Europe that would allow for receiving frozen Russian funds and directing them to Ukraine.

At the same time, Russia’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe does not exempt it from the obligation to comply with the ECHR’s decisions regarding violations committed before the termination of the European Convention on Human Rights for Russia.

PACE also proposes to create a list of individuals involved in large-scale human rights violations in Ukraine. Information about them can be transferred to the states of the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the International Criminal Court for the possible application of sanctions or the initiation of criminal proceedings.

Does this mean that Ukrainians will already be able to receive money

For now, no. The PACE proposal does not in itself trigger automatic payments to people who have suffered from Russian aggression or have ECHR decisions in their favor.

In order to use frozen Russian state assets, it is necessary to create specific legal mechanisms and obtain appropriate decisions from the countries on whose territory these funds are located. Certain legal difficulties concern the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation due to issues of state immunity and international law.

Thus, the PACE initiative is a step towards creating a compensation mechanism, and not an already adopted decision to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

Appealing to the ECHR and entering information into the International Register of Damages may be important for recording violations and damage caused. However, the procedure and terms for actually receiving compensation will depend on further international decisions.