The legal final of the Russia-Georgia political dispute and its significance

January 26, 2021, European University Law Institute organized a public online lecture: “The legal final of the Russia-Georgia political dispute and its significance”.

The speaker:

Levan Meskhoradze - a Researcher at the European University Law Institute, Head of the Department of State Representation in International Human Rights Courts of the Ministry of Justice in 2008-2016, Representative of the Russian case at the Strasbourg Court, Expert of the European Union.

At the public lecture, the significance of the decision made by the Strasbourg Court on the Russia-Georgia case and its possible legal consequences were discussed. The speaker talked about the facts of human rights violations in the territories occupied by Russia, the collection of evidence by the Georgian side, and the conduct of legal procedures.

According to the decision announced by the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court on January 21, the state of Georgia won the case against the Russian Federation, related to the August 2008 war. The court satisfied all the main requirements listed in the interstate complaint of the Georgian side.

"The Grand Chamber of the Court found that Russia exercised effective control over the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia, and therefore, they held Russia responsible for violating the rights of Georgian citizens."

In addition, it’s very essential that the court established the ethnic cleansing of Georgians by Russia during the 2008 war.

The decision by the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court cannot be appealed.