The District Court of The Hague refused to execute Ukrainian court decisions against Russia

The Hague District Court in February recognized its lack of competence to execute Ukrainian court decisions against Russia in the Netherlands. We are talking about the execution of three decisions of the Ukrainian court.

As follows from the statement of the Dutch instance, the Ukrainians tried to recover in court compensation for losses caused by military actions. At the same time, the lawsuits were filed by a company whose name is hidden in the text of the document.

This unnamed firm insisted on collecting damages through the mechanism of "hidden exequatur", which is used in Dutch law when direct enforcement of a foreign decision is impossible.

This option allows for a decision based on the definition of a foreign court. True, this procedure is stipulated by a bunch of legal conditions. First of all, it is necessary to determine whether the foreign court had competence.

It is also established whether the defendant was properly notified and had the opportunity to defend himself, whether the procedure met the basic requirements of a fair trial, whether the result does not contradict the public policy of the Netherlands and whether there is no conflict with other judicial acts.

As a result, the Hague court refused to consider the Ukrainian appeal, agreeing with Moscow's objections that the case falls under state immunity. This means that they do not belong to commercial activities and are not within the competence of the Hague District Court.

The definition states that the arguments about the possible "economic" component do not change the legal qualification of the dispute, since the Ukrainian decisions themselves are based on the fact of hostilities.

At the same time, the Dutch judges referred to the practice of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations and the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, according to which the nature of the alleged violations does not cancel the immunity of the state.

Earlier, EADaily reported that the Amsterdam Court of Appeal lifted the arrest of Gazprom's stake in a Dutch mining company that the Russian monopoly wants to sell. Gazprom continues to fend off the claims of Ukrainian companies, while there is already a buyer of assets.