Professor Milena Sterio wrote an Introductory Note to Georgia v. Russia (Just Satisfaction) (European Court of Human Rights 2019), which will be published in International Legal Materials, a periodic compilation of International law sources edited and published by the American Society of International Law.

Introductory Notes are brief reflections on a current case or other significant international law event, and they are written by experts in the field, by invitation only.  Professor Sterio’s Introductory Note focuses on the recent Georgia v. Russia case in the European Court of Human Rights, where the Court decided to award so-called “just satisfaction” damages to Georgia for various violations of international law committed by Russian forces prior to the 2008 Georgia-Russia war.  These damages, paid by Russia to Georgia, are to be distributed by Georgia to approximately 1,500 Georgian nationals, who were victims of violations committed by Russia.

Although the Court has awarded monetary damages to numerous individuals in the past, this line of cases, where damages are awarded in an interstate case and are to be distributed by the applicant state to its own nationals, is relatively new and represents a new direction for the Court.