CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

PETR VÁLEK CYIL 14 (2023) be further asked to approve the annual financial contribution, once finally determined). As I found out during my chairmanship of the GR-J, the practice of States regarding the partial, enlarged partial and enlarged agreements is quite diverse (some States even consider them to be treaties). 4. The EPA on the Register of Damage Explained In accordance with the usual practice, the Resolution establishing the EPA on the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine (hereinafter, the “Resolution”) 38 refers to the relevant documents of the Council of Europe, including its Statute, the 1993 and 1996 Statutory Resolutions, as well as to the above-mentioned decisions of the CMD that paved the way for the adoption of this resolution. Compared to the resolutions establishing other EPAs, it is worth noting that the Resolution also contains many references to the UN documents, starting with the UN Charter and mentioning also the ARSIWA and the UNGA Resolution. Such extensive use of the documents of the UN is quite new in the practice of the Council of Europe, nevertheless, it is the belief of the author of this article that this regional organization should not just “live in its Strasbourg bubble” and should, therefore, take into account what is being done in New York, Geneva, Vienna or in The Hague. Beyond the symbolic condemning provisions of the Russian Federation, the Resolution contains a few paragraphs that have practical significance. In line with the 1996 Statutory Resolution, it is stipulated that the Register “is established for an initial period of three years…with a view to considering the continuation of its operation, by the end of the initial period of three years” 39 . Finally, the States adopting the Resolution “[a]gree to disseminate information on the Register as widely as possible to potential claimants and the public at large” 40 . So through the present article, I hope to contribute to this objective. The Appendix of the Resolution contains the Statute of the Register of Damage. According to this Statute, the mandate of the Register of Damage is to “serve as a record, in documentary form, of evidence and claims information on damage, loss or injury caused, on or after 24 February 2022, in the territory of Ukraine, to all natural and legal persons concerned, as well as the State of Ukraine… by the Russian Federation’s internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine.” 41 This language was mostly copied from operative para. 4 of the UNGA Resolution. With regard to its functions, it was agreed that the Register of Damage “shall receive and process information on claims of damage and evidence”, however, it “shall not have any adjudication functions.” 42 It was understood that the adjudicative functions would be reserved for the future compensation mechanism. This should not prevent the Register of Damage, however, from rejecting the claims that would be prima facie inadmissible, such as claims for damage not caused by the Russian aggression. In this context, the exact determination of the “[e]ligibility criteria for recording of claims” 43 is left to the future 38 See supra 24.

39 Ibid. 40 Ibid.

41 Ibid. , Art. 1.1. 42 Ibid. , Art. 2.1. 43 Ibid. , Art. 2.2.

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