SEND will decide whether to hear Ukraine's case against Russia for genocide

The International Court of Justice will decide on Friday whether it has jurisdiction to hear an issue filed by Ukraine in the days following Russia's invasion, accusing Moscow of violating the genocide convention, the AP reports.

In the very accused case, Kiev claims Russia violated the 1948 historic convention using false claims of genocide in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions as a pretext to attack Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Ukraine also charges Moscow with “planning acts of genocide”.

Moscow rejects the charges and argued last year that the court should drop the case before considering the merits of Kiev's claims.

At hearings in September, Moscow's legal team leader Genadi Kuzmin called the issue Ukraine's “hopeless, lame and contrary to the long-standing jurisdiction of this court”.

In order for the court to have jurisdiction, Ukraine must prove there is a dispute with Russia over the genocide convention.

A member of Moscow's legal team, Sienho Yee, told judges in September that Russia had not used the genocide convention to justify its military actions in Ukraine, saying they are based on the right to self-determination and its natural right to self-defense”.

In the same hearings, Ukraine insisted that the court has jurisdiction and criticised Moscow for open violation of a provisional court order to stop its invasion.

The court ordered Russia to ban military operations in Ukraine, while legal procedures continued during the first weeks of war in March 2022.

Russia's “challenge is also an attack on the authority of this court. Any missile Russia releases in our cities, it exposes against this court”, said the leader of Ukraine's legal team, Anton Corynevych, ahead of the 16-judge court, broadcasts Kosovo's Clan.

Judges in the court blamed Russia for its invasion, while deciding in another case between the two countries linked to attacks in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and discrimination in annexed Crime.

If judges decide that they have jurisdiction in the genocide case, in the coming months it will pass into discussions on the merits of Ukraine's arguments. A final, legally binding decision is likely still many years away.

The Ukrainian issue is based on the 1948 Genocide Convention, which Kiev and Moscow have ratified. The convention includes a provision that nations that have a dispute based on its provisions can bring that dispute to the world court. Russia denies there is a dispute -- a position Ukraine rejects.

The Hague-based convention and court were put under intensive scrutiny in recent weeks, when South Africa raised an issue accusing Israel of genocide in its devastating military operation in Gaza following Hamas' 7 October attacks.

In a preliminary ruling that did not address the merits of the South African case, the court last week ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent death, destruction and any act of genocide in Gaza.