14-06-2022 15:30
Hearing on Public international law protection of property rights in Ukraine

Brussels
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On 14 June, the JURI Committee organised a public hearing on the Public international law protection of property rights and the question of future reparations and reconstruction in Ukraine. This hearing aimed at clarifying the limits that public international law poses to the confiscation of frozen and seized assets of Russian companies and individuals and of the Russian State.

The hearing represented a follow-up to Point 27 of Parliament's Resolution on War Crimes in Ukraine adopted on 19 May 2022, which calls on the European Commission to establish a legal instrument allowing for frozen Russian assets and funds, that is assets owned by the Russian Federation or affiliated entities or its citizens seized/frozen as a result of sanctions, to be confiscated so that they can be used as reparations and for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The hearing was organised to give answers to two questions:

a) How should such a legal basis be established in order to observe public international law, in particular as regards the protection of property and of other rights?

b) Could there be a rise in cross-border civil law claims arising from such steps and the related litigation, as a result of such new legal instrument and if yes, what would be the impact on the effectiveness of such new legal instrument?