Foley Hoag, Law Profs Represent Georgia in World Court Hearing

International Law

Foley Hoag, Law Profs Represent Georgia in World Court Hearing

Posted Sep 3, 2008, 08:09 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Foley Hoag and two law professors are representing the Republic of Georgia in an emergency hearing before the International Court of Justice.

The hearing set to begin Sept. 8 claims Russian forces and Russian-supported separatist militias engaged in ethnic cleansing against Georgians, according to a Foley Hoag press release e-mailed to the ABA Journal. The republic’s suit filed on Aug. 12 claims Russia violated the 1965 International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in part by driving native Georgians from their homes in the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russia in turn has also threatened to file war crimes charges against Georgia for military action in South Ossetia, the New York Times reported last month. The conflict began when Georgia moved to retake South Ossetia from separatists and Russia responded to expel Georgian troops.

Foley Hoag partner Paul Reichler will argue the case. His co-counsel are international law professor Payam Akhavan at McGill University in Montreal and international law professor James Crawford of Cambridge.

“One can be cynical and say, 'What difference does international law make in this situation?' " Akhavan told the McGill Tribune. “But it's very clear that legitimacy is important, not least because Russia has constantly invoked international law as a justification for its policies. Already there has been a certain moderation of the situation since we got this case before the court because it puts Russia on notice that its action is being scrutinized, and that there will be consequences attached to that."

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