Post by Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School

In a two-part publication released around the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Professor Harold Hongju Koh and student members of the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School looked back at the progress made thus far under international law toward a “just and lawful peace in Ukraine” and urged the use of frozen Russian central bank assets to finance Ukrainian reconstruction. Part I surveys the substantial legal architecture erected over the past four years: ICJ and ICC litigation, criminal prosecutions of Putin and senior Russian commanders, and a new Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Against the backdrop of the Trump Administration’s push for a narrow, limited peace in Ukraine, Part I argues that the injection of rule-of-law principles into the ongoing peace negotiations can build a “durable peace with substantive elements designed to ensure Ukraine’s long-term political, military, and economic future.” Part II follows by identifying the most critical remaining piece of that international legal architecture—directing the roughly €185 billion in frozen Russian assets held in Europe toward Ukrainian compensation and reconstruction. The authors argue that European hesitation—driven by fears of legal risk—to do so has been unwarranted, and explain that no real legal barriers exist to using frozen Russian assets for Ukrainian reconstruction. Read Part I below (and see a link to Part II in the comments): https://lnkd.in/eQFjRACk Clinic authors included: Professor Harold Hongju Koh, Madeline Babin, Katherine (Kate) D., Saavni Desai, Samantha Kiernan, and Julian Watrous.