The International Court of Justice and the Provisional Measures Order in the Georgia v Russian Federation Case

On 12 August 2008, Georgia filed an Application instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1966 (CERD). On 14 August, referring to Article 41 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and to Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court, Georgia submitted a Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures in order to preserve its rights under CERD ‘to protect its citizens against violent discriminatory acts by Russian armed forces, acting in concert with separatist militia and foreign mercenaries’, including ‘unlawful attacks against civilians and civilian objects, murder, forced displacement, denial of humanitarian assistance, and extensive pillage and destruction of towns and villages, in South Ossetia and neighbouring regions of Georgia, and in Abkhazia and neighbouring regions , under Russian occupation’. On 25 August, as a result of ‘the rapidly changing circumstances in Abkhazia and South Ossetia’, Georgia submitted an Amended Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures of Protection pending the Court’s determination of the case on the merits. The Amended Request sought to prevent irreparable harm to the rights of ethnic Georgians under Articles 2 and 5 of CERD to be secure in their persons and to be protected against violence or bodily harm in the areas of Georgian territory under the effective control of the Russian Federation;