International and national legal approaches to compensation of environmental damage caused by military actions

Abstract

The article analyzes international and national legal approaches to compensation for environmental damage caused by military op It is noted that today the world experience of compensation for environmental damage caused by military operations has already been gained. It can serve as a basis for bringing the Russian aggressor to justice for causing huge environmental damage in Ukraine. In particular, the discusses the punishment for losses and damages caused to Kuwait as a result of the Iraqi military invasion and occupation. It is noted that the experience of the Compensation Commission for the Iraq-Kuwait Conflict is used by the Ukrainian side in creating an international register of damages. Ukraine also relies on the approaches to the Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which was created by the United Nations to record the consequences of Israel’s construction of the security wall against Palestine.The analyzes the legal provisions on crimes against the environment that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The emphasizes the relevance of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by our country in the context of the war in Ukraine. The provisions on the protection of the natural environment in the conduct of hostilities, as defined in the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), are considered. The functioning of the Register of Damage Caused by Russia’s Aggression against Ukraine, which was recommended in the UN General Assembly Resolution (2022) and decided to be established at the Council of Europe Summit (2023), is noted.The analyzes a number of regulatory legal acts of Ukraine aimed at identifying (and recording) property damaged and destroyed as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, and sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including in the field of ecology.The author concludes that today, both at the international level and in Ukraine, there is a need to finalize the gaps in the legal framework for compensation for environmental damage caused by war.