Today we continue our series of articles on recovery of material and moral damages from russia based on Ukrainian court decisions.

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The Ukrainian court decision can be enforced both in Ukraine and in a foreign country.
Unfortunately, given the amount of damage that russia has caused to citizens, legal entities and our country, the assets of this country that are in our possession will not be enough to compensate for such huge amounts. All the assets of the aggressor country that were in Ukraine have been confiscated.
At the state level, there are attempts to introduce an institution of compensation for victims of damage caused by the armed aggression of the russian federation. To this end, several bills have been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration regarding compensation for damage caused by the actions of the russian federation:
This document envisages the creation of a State Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine to ensure compensation for damage to their lives and health. This will be a record of citizens whose lives and health have been damaged, i.e., compensation for moral and physical suffering.
After analyzing the text of the document, it can be concluded that court decisions will not be taken into account in such a register, however, the information contained in such a Register may be used by individuals and legal entities, as well as the state of Ukraine, to file applications and claims with the judicial authorities and the international Register of Damages Caused by the Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine for compensation for damage and losses in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The provisions of this draft law also provides that “Civilians whose lives and health have been damaged as a result of the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine have the right to receive appropriate compensation through reparations or other penalties from the russian federation, including within the framework of the implementation of the concept of a special compensation mechanism for damages caused by the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine.” So far, no such special compensation mechanism has been developed.
The draft law provides for an interesting provision regarding the receipt of compensation: “When receiving compensation for damage to life and health from the state or local budgets, the recipient of such compensation shall conclude an agreement on the assignment to the state/territorial community of the right to claim against the russian federation for the relevant compensation in the amount of the compensation received in accordance with the procedure determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.”
However, these documents are still under consideration.
As for compensation for damages in Ukraine, there are precedents when the court collects money jointly and severally from the State Development Corporation (SDC) «ВЕБ.рф» and the russian federation as damages. The court justifies this as follows: “it appears that the government of the russian federation actually considers the SCD «ВЕБ.рф» as a body subordinate to the government, and not an independent legal entity engaged in entrepreneurial activity at its own discretion and risk, therefore, the above and the exercise by the government of the russian federation of control over the activities of the SCD «ВЕБ.рф» resulted in the formation of relations of agent and principal. The property of the russian federation and SCD «ВЕБ.рф» is mixed to such an extent that there are no grounds to consider it the property of a legal entity, not the russian federation. In other words, the SCD «ВЕБ.рф» is essentially a body of the russian federation, since it fulfills the goals, functions and tasks inherent in state bodies, is under the close control of the russian federation to the extent that it is its alter ego (“second self”), and whose property is managed by the state as its own.”
However, the assets of «ВЕБ.рф» will certainly not be enough to compensate all the victims.
Judgments of Ukrainian courts are enforced abroad on the basis of international treaties (bilateral or multilateral) between Ukraine and other states. In the absence of such treaties, the principle of reciprocity applies. In such cases, the procedural law of the country in which the applicant applies to the court to enforce the court decision applies.
Persons wishing to receive compensation from russia abroad must apply to a foreign court for permission to enforce a Ukrainian court decision/recognition of such a decision (the name and form of the document may differ depending on the court and the country of law).
If a positive decision is obtained and the bailiffs are contacted, they will search for property that can be enforced (however, this can be problematic).
An important step in completing the process is to find assets that can be used to really enforce the decision. Such assets from which damages can be enforced from russia may include, in particular, bonds, shares, debts receivables, paintings, immovable property, etc.
A possible solution to the problem could be the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters of July 2, 2019. This Convention was ratified by Ukraine on July 01, 2022 and entered into force on September 01, 2023. It is applicable in all 27 EU member states, except Denmark and Ukraine. However, this Convention does not apply to non-contractual obligations arising from damage to or loss of real property, and therefore cannot be applied to Ukrainian decisions on compensation for property and non-property damage from russia.
The optimal solution to such situations is to appeal to a friendly country that will have the political will to take such a step so as not to apply judicial immunity and immunity from the execution of court decisions and limit them. There is no precedent or algorithm yet in any country.
If the state is recognized as a sponsor of terrorism, then immunity does not apply. The russian regime has been recognized as a terrorist regime by Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and on October 13, 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution that also recognized the russian regime as a terrorist regime.
The EU member states signed the Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, which provides for a simplified mechanism for the enforcement of judgments of one EU member state in another EU member state.
Once a Ukrainian court decision is obtained, it can theoretically be recognized, for example, in Poland, since Ukraine and Poland have signed the Treaty between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Matters (ratified on February 4, 1994). Further, on the basis of the Brussels Convention (Articles 25-28) and Regulation (EU) № 1215/2012, you can try to enforce a Polish court judgment not only in Poland, but also, for example, in France or another country.
If, for example, you want to enforce a Ukrainian judgment in England, you will have to confirm certain aspects. The first is the proven specific amount of damage. Second, the Ukrainian court had jurisdiction on the basis of the English rules of jurisdiction. Usually, russia enjoys sovereign immunity under English legislation. In any case, in order to recognize the Ukrainian court decision, you will have to file a new lawsuit in an English court – this will entail additional costs.
As we have already noted, Ukrainian judgments on damages are subject to recognition and enforcement in Poland on the basis of the 1993 Agreement on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil and Criminal Cases between Ukraine and Poland.
Article 50 of this Treaty provides for the grounds for recognition and enforcement of judgments.
In order to recognize and execute the decision of the Ukrainian court, the interested person may apply directly to the court of Poland or to the Ukrainian court, which considered the case in the first instance.
The application must be accompanied by
For recognition and enforcement, the Ukrainian court decision must meet the following criteria:
If the interested person submits an application through the court of Ukraine that issued the decision, the latter shall attach to the application the necessary documents provided for in the Legal Assistance Treaty. The court sends the application and the documents attached thereto to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt, the Ministry shall send the application to the central authority of the requested state for consideration by its competent authority.
Thus, based on the research conducted, it is not yet possible to state with certainty in which country and how the Ukrainian court decision to recover moral and material damage from russia can be enforced. There have been no such precedents, and no one has developed a unified approach. However, we believe that it is worth applying to foreign courts for the recognition and enforcement of such decisions, and thus begin to create real precedents by enforcing decisions and recovering funds from the aggressor state in practice.
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