CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REGISTER OF DAMAGE AS A RESPONSE OF THE COUNCIL … in 2006 21 and based in Vienna. While the situation on the occupied Palestinian territory is certainly different from that in Ukraine, particularly since the Palestinians have an access to the Israeli courts and may receive some remedy, the UNRoD Rules and Regulations served as a source of inspiration. The first draft was distributed to the member States of the Council of Europe and Observers as a basis for negotiation on April 4, 2023. Being the current Chair of GR-J, I received from the CMD an uneasy task to negotiate the EPA establishing the register of damage in less than thirty days 22 . During the meetings of GR-J on April 11, 12 and 14, 2023, the whole text of the above-stated Draft Resolution, including the Appendix, was revised and the second draft was prepared. At this point, I decided to give to the member States and observers an opportunity to submit written comments until April 20, 2023, as the delegations needed to consult on the progress in the text with their Capitals. In the meantime, the CMD passed its decisions on April 19, 2023, formerly authorizing the establishment of the Register of Damage “under the form of an EPA within the institutional framework of the Council of Europe” 23 . Having received several written comments, I dealt with them at the GR-J meeting on April 25, 2023. Subsequently, the third draft was prepared that was submitted into the written procedure with the deadline of April 27, 2023. By that time, I received just linguistic corrections and conducted another short written procedure on April 28, 2023, which was not broken by any member State. The deadline of April 30 set by the CMD was, therefore, accomplished. Because of its financial implications, the Draft Resolution also had to be discussed also by the Group of Rapporteurs on Programme, Budget and Administration (hereinafter, the “GR PBA”) on May 2, 2023. Fortunately, the rich debate in the GR-PBA related to a paper on the financial aspects prepared by the Secretariat did not lead to re-opening of the text. This description of the negotiation process may seem superfluous, nevertheless, it shows the pace in which the text had to be prepared. The Resolution was then adopted by the CMD on May 12, 2023 24 , while the list of those approving the EPA contained in its chapeau was left open until May 16. The final list reads as follows: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom, as well as the representatives of the European Union, Canada, Japan and the United States of America. It is expected that several more States will join the EPA in the coming months. 25 Furthermore, the Register of Damage was referred to in two paragraphs of the Reykjavík Declaration under the part titled “United for Ukraine and accountability” 26 . 21 The UNGA Resolution A/RES/ES-10/17, adopted on December 15, 2006, Establishment of the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 22 Meeting the deadline was further “complicated” by the French school holidays in Strasbourg and both Catholic and Orthodox Easter. 23 The CMD Decision CM/Del/Dec(2023)1464/1.6, adopted on April 19, 2023. 24 The CMD Resolution CM/Res(2023)3 establishing the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine, adopted on May 12, 2023. 25 Andorra became the Participant on May 31, 2023. The updated list can be found at the website of the Council of Europe: https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list1?module=partial-agreement-members&numeroAp=17. 26 See supra 13, p. 4.

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