The Freeze and Potential Use of Russian Sovereign Assets : Between State Immunity, Countermeasures and the Emerging Reparations Mechanism for Ukraine

Details

Supervisors

Dopagne, Frédéric

Faculty

Faculté de droit et de criminologie

Degree label

Master de spécialisation en droit international

Abstract

Abstract Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has generated an unprecedented debate concerning the legal status and possible use of immobilised Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine and secure future reparations. This thesis examines whether, and under what conditions, such assets may be used consistently with public international law. The analysis focuses on the principal legal constraints and possible justifications surrounding the immobilisation and potential use of Russian sovereign assets. It first examines the protection afforded by State immunity, with particular attention to the immunity from enforcement enjoyed by central bank assets. It then considers whether international investment law may constitute an additional constraint on measures affecting Russian assets, including through the Belgium–Russia bilateral investment treaty and applicable standards of treatment. The thises subsequently assesses countermeasures as a possible legal basis for measures going beyond the existing asset freeze and addresses the particular legal risks arising for Belgium, given the concentration of immobilised Russian assets held through Euroclear. Against this background, the thesis evaluates emerging alternatives to outright confiscation, including the use of revenues associated with immobilised assets and the developing international reparations architecture for Ukraine. Particular attention is given to the Claims Commission for Ukraine and its relationship with the Register of Damage. The thesis argues that outright confiscation of Russian sovereign assets remains legally contested under existing international law. It therefore concludes that mechanisms preserving the assets while linking their eventual use to an internationally organised reparations process may provide a more legally sustainable framework for reconciling the protection of sovereign property with Russia’s obligation to make full reparation for internationally wrongful acts.