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The Annexation of Crimea and International Law: Review of Thomas D Grant's Aggression Against Ukraine: Territory, Responsibility and International Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2017

Natalia Cwicinskaja
Natalia Cwicinskaja*
Affiliation:
Natalia Cwicinskaja, Associate Professor of International Law at the Chair of International Law and International Organizations, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan (Poland), nc@amu.edu.pl
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Abstract

Thomas D Grant's Aggression Against Ukraine: Territory, Responsibility and International Law (Palgrave Macmillan 2015) is the first book which offers a careful, meticulous examination of all aspects of Russia's involvement in Crimea in 2014 in terms of international law, as well as of both Russian and Ukrainian municipal legal orders. It covers probably the widest possible spectrum of legal issues connected with Russia's involvement in Crimea and provides a comprehensive, analytical overview of relevant modern rules of international law in the field of territorial integrity, self-determination and use of force.

Keywords

annexationCrimeaRussian Federationself-determinationuse of force
Type
Book Review Essays
Information
Israel Law Review , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , July 2017 , pp. 211 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and The Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2017 

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References

1 Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Crimea of 17 March 2014, No 1745-6/14 ‘On the Independence of Crimea’ in State Council of the Republic of Crimea, Collection of Normative Legal Acts of the Republic of Crimea, No 3, Pt 1, Item 244 (in Russian).

2 Executive Order of the President of the Russian Federation of 17 March 2014, No 147 ‘On Recognising Republic of Crimea’ in Russian Federation, Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 24 March 2014, No 12, Item 1259 (in Russian), https://www.rt.com/news/crimea-resolution-independence-ukraine-346.

3 Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the Accession of the Republic of Crimea in the Russian Federation and on Forming New Constituent Entities within the Russian Federation (signed 18 March 2014, Moscow), Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 7 April 2014, No 14, Item 1570 (in Russian), http://en.kremlin.ru/acts/news/20596.

4 eg, Vladimir Putin, interview with Radio Europe 1 and TF1, 3 June 2014, translation at http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/45832.

5 Burke-White, William W, ‘Crimea and the International Legal Order’ (2014) University of Pennsylvania Law School, Faculty Scholarship Paper 1360, 1Google Scholar, http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1360.

6 eg, ibid; Niko Krisch, ‘Crimea and the Limits of International Law’, EJIL: Talk!, 10 March 2014, http://www.ejiltalk.org/crimea-and-the-limits-of-international-law; Anne Peters, ‘Crimea: Does “The West” Now Pay the Price for Kosovo?’, EJIL: Talk!, 22 April 2014, http://www.ejiltalk.org/crimea-does-the-west-now-pay-the-price-for-kosovo.

7 Krisch, ibid.

8 Law of Ukraine No 5475-VI ‘On All-Ukrainian Referendum’, Bulletin of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, 2013, Nos 44-45, Item 634 (in Ukrainian).

9 Order of the President of Ukraine of 14 March 2014 ‘On Reversal of the Decision of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of 11 March 2014 “The Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol City”’, Official Journal of the President of Ukraine, 2014, No 9, Item 261 (in Ukrainian).

10 Law of Ukraine No 1207-VII of 15 April 2014 ‘On Securing the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime on the Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine (with changes set forth by the Law No 1237-VII of 6 May 2014)’, http://mfa.gov.ua/en/news-feeds/foreign-offices-news/23095-law-of-ukraine-no-1207-vii-of-15-april-2014-on-securing-the-rights-and-freedoms-of-citizens-and-the-legal-regimeon-the-temporarily-occupied-territory-of-ukraine-with-changes-set-forth-by-the-law-no-1237-vii-of-6-may-2014.

11 Cwicinskaja, Natalia, ‘The Legality and Certain Legal Consequences of the “Accession” of Crimea to the Russian Federation’ (2014) 34 Polish Yearbook of International Law 61, 67–68 Google Scholar.

12 Order of the President of Ukraine of 1 March 2014 ‘On Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea’ (2014) Official Journal of the President of Ukraine, No 7, Item 257 (in Ukrainian).

13 Federal Constitutional Law ‘On the Procedure of Admission to the Russian Federation and the Formation within It of New Constituent Territories’, Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 24 December 2001, No 52, Pt 1, Item 4916 (in Russian); Executive Order ‘On Recognizing the Republic of Crimea’ (n 2); Federal Constitutional Law ‘On the Accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the Creation of New Constituent Entities within Russia’, Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 24 March 2014, No 12, Item 1201 (in Russian); Judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation ‘On Compliance of Agreement on Accession of Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation with the Constitution’, Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation, 31 March 2014, No 13, Item 1527 (in Russian).

14 See, eg, ‘Putin Has Approved a Draft Agreement on the Adoption of the Crimea into the Russian Federation’, Interfax, 18 March 2014, http://www.interfax.ru/russia/365375 (in Russian).

15 The text of the draft law is available at the official website of the political party A Just Russia (Spravedlivaya Rossiya), 28 February 2014, http://www.spravedlivo.ru/5_57958.html (in Russian).

16 Explanatory Note to the Draft Federal Constitutional Law ‘On Amendments to the Federal Constitutional Law “On the Procedure of Admission to the Russian Federation and the Formation within it of New Constituent Territories”’, 28 February 2014, official website of the political party A Just Russia (Spravedlivaya Rossiya), http://www.spravedlivo.ru/5_57958.html (in Russian).

17 Krisch (n 6).

18 Sergei Budylin, ‘Whether to Execute an International Agreement? The Results of the Crimean Campaign’, 20 July 2014, https://zakon.ru/blog/2014/07/20/ispolnyat_li_mezhdunarodnyj_dogovor_itogi_krymskoj_kampanii (in Russian).

19 Charter of the United Nations (entered into force 24 October 1945) 1 UNTS XVI (UN Charter).

20 Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion [2010] ICJ Rep 403.

21 eg, Burri, Thomas, ‘The Kosovo Opinion and Secession: The Sounds of Silence and Missing Links’ (2010) 11 German Law Journal 881Google Scholar.

22 Kosovo (n 20) [81].

23 eg, Wyrozumska, Anna, ‘The Opinion by the Legal Advisory Committee to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland on the Annexation of the Crimean Peninsula to the Russian Federation in Light of International Law’ (2014) 34 Polish Yearbook of International Law 275Google Scholar; Grzebyk, Patrycja, ‘Aneksja Krymu przez Rosję w świetle prawa miedzynarodowego’ (2014) 1 Sprawy Międzynarodowe 19 (in Polish)Google Scholar; Kranz, Jerzy, ‘Kilka uwag na tle aneksji Krymu przez Rosję’ (2014) 8 Państwo i Prawo 23 (in Polish)Google Scholar.

24 See, eg, Mar, Katherine del, ‘The Myth of Remedial Secession’ in French, Duncan (ed), Statehood and Self-Determination: Reconciling Tradition and Modernity in International Law (Cambridge University Press 2013) 79, 79Google Scholar.

25 eg, Driest, Simone F van den, ‘Crimea's Separation from Ukraine: An Analysis of the Right to Self-Determination and (Remedial) Secession in International Law’ (2015) 62 Netherlands International Law Review 329, 331Google Scholar.

26 Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo, Request for Advisory Opinion, Written Statement of the Russian Federation, 16 April 2009, [88].

27 Cwicinskaja (n 11) 83–85.

28 Republic of Somalia v Woodhouse Drake & Carey (Suisse) SA and Others [1993] QB 54; [1992] 2 Lloyd's Rep 471.

29 Law of Ukraine ‘On the Order of Admission and Conditions of Stay of Armed Forces of Foreign States on the Territory of Ukraine’, Bulletin of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, 2000, No 11, Item 404 (in Ukrainian)Google Scholar.

30 ‘Handling of the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov’, Press Centre of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 1 March 2014, http://crimea.gov.ru (in Russian).

31 Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v US), Merits, Judgment 1986 ICJ Rep 14, [246].

32 UNGA Res 60/1 (24 October 2005), UN Doc A/RES/60/1, para 139.

33 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, ‘On Russia's Position at [the] 67th Session of the UN General Assembly’, 19 June 2012, para 35, http://www.mid.ru/general_assembly//asset_publisher/lrzZMhfoyRUj/content/id/152294 (in Russian); http://rusemb.org.uk/ga67s (English translation) (emphasis in original).

34 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, ‘Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation Approved by [the] President of the Russian Federation, V. Putin, on 12 February 2013’, 18 February 2013, para 15, http://archive.mid.ru//brp_4.nsf/0/76389FEC168189ED44257B2E0039B16D (in Russian), http://www.rusemb.org.uk/in1 (English translation).

35 Konyshev, Valerii, Kubyshkin, Alexander and Sergunin, Alexander, ‘Protection of Civilians in UN Peacekeeping Operations: Problems and Prospects’ (2015) 26(231) National Interests: Priorities and Security 53 (in Russian)Google Scholar.

36 Definition of Aggression, UNGA Res 3314 (XXIX), UN Doc A/RES/3314(XXIX) 14 December 1974.

37 UN, Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council: Suppl 1989–1992, Ch VIII, Agenda item 22: Items relating to the Situation between Iraq and Kuwait, 703.

38 eg, Daranowski, Piotr, ‘The Precedent of Kosovo and the Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina’ in Szczesio, Sławomir Lucjan, Chmielewski, Paweł (eds), Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 years after Dayton: Past – Present – Perspectives (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego 2011) 411 (in Polish)Google Scholar; Daranowski, Piotr, ‘The Recognition of Kosovo's Independence – Sanctioned Precedent’ in Jasudowicz, Tadeusz and Balcerzak, Michał (eds), Commemorative Book in Honor of Professor Jan Białocerkiewicz (Towarzystwo Naukowe Organizacji i Kierownictwa ‘Dom Organizatora’ 2009) 615 (in Polish)Google Scholar; Orakhelashvili, Alexander, ‘Statehood, Recognition and the United Nations System: A Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Kosovo’ in Bogdandy, Armin von and Wolfrum, Rüdiger (eds), Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Vol 12(1) (Brill 2008) 1Google Scholar.