17 Mar 2022 10:00

UN court's ruling binding for countries participating in dispute, Russia didn't give consent to litigation - Senator Kosachyov

MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - Judgments issued by the United Nations' International Court of Justice are binding only for countries that take part in a dispute, whereas Russia did not agree to it, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachyov said.

"The UN International Court has a right to hear a case only if the relevant states have given their consent to become parties in litigation at the court (the consent of any party to a case). The court's judgements are binding, but they are binding only for the states taking part in litigation and only in this given case," Kosachyov said.

"As far as I understand, Russia has not given such consent," the Russian senator said when commenting on reports that the UN International Court of Justice on Wednesday called on Russia to stop the special operation in Ukraine.

"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations commenced on February 24, 2022, in Ukraine," the court said in a press release.

"Both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve," it said.

These are the provisional measures which the court believes need to be adopted in this case.

Ukraine earlier lodged a lawsuit with the UN International Court of Justice in a bid to secure a stop to the Russian special military operation.

As reported, the Russian delegation decided not to attend the hearings, which were held earlier this month.