When Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan filed an $80 billion claim against Russia on behalf of Ukraine at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg last week, it was just getting started.
“We will be filing further submissions with the court to demonstrate Russia’s ongoing violations,” said Hughes-Jennett, who is leading the Quinn team along with partner Alex Gerbi.
The firm, which is a longstanding adviser to Ukraine, was appointed in March by Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice to serve as counsel for human rights proceedings relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Quinn is working with Ukrainian law firm Asters and counsel from London’s Blackstone Chambers, led by Timothy Otty QC, and Twenty Essex Street, led by Guglielmo Verdirame QC.
The claims filed last week addressed only “phase one of the war,” Hughes-Jennet said.
Those claims address Russian violations over the period “from the onset of its invasion until the effective withdrawal of Russian ground forces from around Kyiv and other cities in northern Ukraine on 7 April 2022,” according to a firm statement.
Since then, and as recently as this week, Russia has renewed missile attacks on Kyiv and other cities.
Ukraine is seeking compensation for violations of the European Convention of Human Rights—a major treaty governing international law. The country can seek compensation for loss of life, injury and trauma, population displacement and property damage.
Hughes-Jennet said that damage to property is one of the major claims made in the submission so far.
“The scale of economic damage to Ukraine is unprecedented,” she said.
This includes damages caused by the destruction of residential buildings in various cities throughout Ukraine, such as Mariupol and Bucha, or from high-profile businesses whose property was destroyed as a result of Russian missiles.
The damage caused by the invasion is said to be at a scale not seen in Europe since World War II.
Hughes-Jennet said the firm has been working with the School of Economics in Kyiv, which “has been doing an excellent job at cataloging the scale of economic destruction and devastation in Ukraine.”
“They have estimated that, at minimum, one could be looking at, in phase one, around US$80 billion worth of damage.”
That number could rise exponentially—even as high as US$600 billion, she said, adding that the total value of destroyed property in Ukraine is still unknown.
“We are determined to bring to the court’s attention all the ongoing violations by Russia of the European Convention, and ultimately seek accountability on behalf of Ukraine and its citizens,” Hughes-Hennet said.
