The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Friday that it has jurisdiction to determine aspects of a case, brought by Ukraine against Russia, concerning allegations of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

In a summary of the judgment, the ICJ noted that the proceedings were initiated in 2022 when Ukraine filed an application against Russia about “a dispute . . . relating to the interpretation, application and fulfillment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” in which Ukraine sought to establish the ICJ’s jurisdiction to deal with the case. The application was filed shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an invasion which Russia sought to justify by stating that “‘[i]ts purpose [wa]s to protect people who ha[d] been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.'”

Russia raised six objections to the application, including that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and that the claims were “inadmissible as the Court’s potential judgment would lack practical effect”. Russia also contended that the application was inadmissible as it constituted an abuse of process.

The ICJ rejected Russia’s claim that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the case. It did, however, accept that it does not have jurisdiction to determine Ukraine’s claim that the use of force by Russia when it first invaded Ukraine undermined the rules governing states in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Court also held that it was not within its power to decide whether Russia recognizing Lugansk and Donetsk as independent states breached the convention.

Although ICJ decisions are binding, they cannot be enforced. Given that Russia has failed to comply with the ICJ’s March 2022 order that it cease its military operations in Ukraine, the ICJ’s future judgment may lack practical effect.