Legal Possibilities of Using Russian Central Bank Assets to Enforce European Court of Human Rights Judgments
Since Russia launched the war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of thousands of civilians have suffered enormous harm. Millions have been displaced or made refugees and thousands killed. However, Russia is unlikely to provide these victims any form of reparation, and has officially announced that it will not comply with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
This report and its annexes consider a possibility as yet unexplored: European jurisdictions could use frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to pay for compensation awards that the European Court of Human Rights may issue. These assets were frozen in 2022 as part of coordinated sanctions and thus remain in the hands of a number of states, including Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom.
Looking at these three countries, the report offers a detailed analysis of the applicable laws and procedures to inform potential legal and political actions that could be taken for the relief of victims in Ukraine.
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