Representatives of KUL NASU participated in a webinar on the protection of property rights in wartime

Every natural or legal person has the right to peacefully enjoy their property. Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights stipulates the following: ‘No one shall be deprived of their property except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law.’ Therefore, in the context of a full-scale war, questions naturally arise about how it is possible to protect one’s property rights. What obligations does the state have, and can it deviate from its obligations? Answers to numerous questions from Ukrainian citizens affected by the criminal aggression of the Russian Federation were the focus of a seminar held by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on the topic “Protection of the right to property in the context of an international armed conflict through the standards of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the ECHR. The event was supported by the USAID Ukraine program ‘Human Rights in Action’.

Let us recall that since 2014, from the beginning of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, the aggressor state Russia has repeatedly violated international law throughout the territory of our state. After the full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory by Russian troops from February 24, 2022, violations have numbered in the tens of thousands. In turn, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and human rights organizations document international crimes committed by the occupiers, and the Ukrainian government files lawsuits against Russia and its leadership in international courts, referring to international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Practical experience and reality indicate that in conditions of war and mass violence, the level of human rights violations is extremely high. The attack of the Russian Federation led to serious mass violations of human rights and norms of international humanitarian law, resulting in catastrophic consequences for the realization of practically all human rights by the people of Ukraine. Citizens of Ukraine are losing their lives, health, and property, experiencing horrific treatment, and therefore require serious protection and mechanisms that would respond to these violations.

Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union is one of the organizations that promotes the development of a humane society based on respect for human life, dignity, and harmonious relationships between humans, the state, and nature through the creation of a platform for cooperation with other participants in the human rights movement.

The seminar was moderated by a lawyer, a member of the Committee for the Protection of Lawyers’ Rights and Guarantees of Advocacy Activity of the Bar Council of Donetsk Region Anastasia Serbina. During the event, participants learned about: the institution of property rights through the lens of European standards such as objects, entitlements, legitimacy of interference; Ukraine’s positive and negative obligations regarding the protection of property rights during an armed conflict; the content of the “three-part test”: legality of seizure, legitimate purpose, proportionality, applied to property relations; the occupation regime and the issue of effective control as a basis for shifting responsibility from Ukraine.

The event was attended by lawyers, attorneys, judges, and prosecutors, scholars, and members of the public. From the Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, an associate professor of the Department of International Law and Sectoral Legal Disciplines, PhD in Law, associate professor, took part in the event. Oksana Khorvatova.

Press Center KUL NASU