War Reparations: The Case for Countermeasures

Abstract

Who pays for the terrible destruction wrought by war? This problem is far from new, but it is currently receiving renewed attention as a result of the war in Ukraine. The options currently available to states that are the victims of unlawful wars in the postwar era are limited. For Ukraine, some have proposed addressing this shortfall by seizing frozen Russian sovereign assets, and both the United States and Canada have passed legislation permitting just that. European officials have considered a similar proposal, but they have thus far rejected them as too legally risky. Indeed, such plans run afoul of the longstanding international law doctrine of sovereign immunity. Put simply, they attempt to cure one international legal violation by engaging in another.

Keywords: international law, reparations, war, Ukraine, United Nations, General Assembly, countermeasures, collective countermeasures, sovereign immunity

JEL Classification: K33