Collection Items

  • Article
    Finland: Parliament Addresses Russia's Instrumentalized Immigration On July 12, 2024, the Finnish Parliament, in order to address Russia’s strategic instrumentalization of immigration by directing third-party asylum seekers to Finland’s border with Russia, adopted a new law allowing border guards to reject asylum seekers through a “push-back” procedure. The Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalized Migration was approved by a supermajority … Continue reading “Finland: Parliament Addresses Russia’s Instrumentalized Immigration”
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2024-07-17
  • Article
    Finland: Government Proposes Legislation to Stem "Instrumentalized Migration" On May 21, 2024, the Finnish Government sent a proposal for new border legislation, the Act on Temporary Measures to Combat Instrumentalized Migration, to the Finnish parliament. The proposal includes provisions and measures meant to stem “instrumentalized migration”—specifically, Russia’s direction of large numbers of asylum-seekers to the border to influence Finland’s security and social stability―and … Continue reading “Finland: Government Proposes Legislation to Stem…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2024-06-05
  • Article
    European Union: New Regulation Allows Using Net Profits from Frozen Russian Assets to Support Ukraine On May 22, 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1469, which authorizes the use of net profits from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and self-defense against Russia’s war of aggression, entered into force. It amends Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, which first imposed sanctions on Russia, and implements the measures … Continue reading “European Union: New Regulation Allows Using…
    • Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
    • Date: 2024-06-03
  • Article
    Nicaragua-Russia: Cooperation Agreement for Training of Police Forces On March 21, 2024, Nicaragua enacted Legislative Decree A.N. No. 8873 of 2024 (the agreement), a decree approving the agreement between the government of the Republic of Nicaragua and the Government of the Russian Federation, for cooperation in the field of retraining and professional improvement in the sphere of police activity. As outlined in article … Continue reading “Nicaragua-Russia: Cooperation Agreement for Training of…
    • Contributor: Alvarez, Stephania
    • Date: 2024-05-28
  • Article
    Russian Federation: Decree Grants Foreigners Serving in Armed Forces During Special Military Operation in Ukraine the Right to Obtain Citizenship Under Simplified Procedure On January 4, 2024, the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed Decree No. 10 on the Admission to Citizenship of the Russian Federation for Foreign Citizens Who Have Entered into a Contract for Military Service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or Military Formations, and Members of Their Families. The decree … Continue reading “Russian Federation: Decree Grants Foreigners Serving…
    • Contributor: Fremer, Iana
    • Date: 2024-03-14
  • Article
    United States: Department of Justice Indicts Four Russian Military Personnel for War Crimes On December 6, 2023, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of four Russian military members under article 147 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and 18 USC § 2441(c)(1–2), the War Crimes Act of 1996. The indictment consisted of four counts: conspiracy … Continue reading “United States: Department of Justice Indicts…
    • Contributor: Myers, Louis
    • Date: 2023-12-18
  • Article
    Russia, Latvia: Courts Recognize Use of Emoji as Legal Signature On September 9, 2023, a regional appellate court for commercial disputes in southern Russia confirmed the ruling of a lower court that resolved a dispute between two individual entrepreneurs and recognized the use of the “thumbs up” emoji in a WhatsApp message as equivalent to signing a written contract. (Appellate court ruling, at 8.) According … Continue reading “Russia, Latvia: Courts Recognize Use of…
    • Contributor: Roudik, Peter
    • Date: 2023-12-12
  • Article
    Finland: Government Closes Entire Land Border with Russia On November 28, 2023, the Finnish government announced that it will close the entire Finnish-Russian land border, including to asylum applicants, until December 13, 2023, starting at midnight on November 30, 2023. As of November 30, 2023, asylum applicants will have to apply for asylum at Finnish airports or harbors. The government cited harsh winter … Continue reading “Finland: Government Closes Entire Land Border…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2023-11-28
  • Article
    Finland: Government Closes Most Border Crossings to Russia On November 22, 2023, the Finnish government announced the temporary closure of an additional three border crossing stations between Finland and Russia. The November 22 closure comes on the heels of the closure of four other border crossings effective November 18. The closures follow a recent rise in the number of Russian asylum seekers that … Continue reading “Finland: Government Closes Most Border Crossings…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2023-11-28
  • Article
    Russian Federation: New Law Introduces Electronic Summons for Conscripts On April 17, 2023, Federal Law No. 127-FZ on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation entered into force. This law, which was signed by the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, on April 14, 2023, brings changes to the registration procedure for military conscripts and introduces digitalization to streamline this process.The … Continue reading “Russian Federation: New Law Introduces Electronic…
    • Contributor: Fremer, Iana
    • Date: 2023-07-10
  • Article
    United Kingdom: New Sanctions Ban Export of Battlefield Items to Russia The United Kingdom (U.K.) has recently introduced 92 new sanctions that prohibit the “export of every item Ukraine has found Russia using on the battlefield to date.” These sanctions form part of a series of internationally coordinated sanctions and trade measures that include bans on the export of hundreds of goods, including aircraft parts, radio … Continue reading “United Kingdom: New Sanctions Ban Export…
    • Contributor: Feikert-Ahalt, Clare
    • Date: 2023-03-02
  • Article
    Germany: Court Convicts Man for Publicly Approving Russia's Invasion of Ukraine by Displaying the Letter "Z" In a decision published on November 26, 2022, the district court of Hamburg (Amtsgericht Hamburg, AG Hamburg) held that displaying a white DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung, German Institute for Standardization) A4-sized paper with a blue letter “Z” painted on it in the rear window of a car constituted a crime. It stated that by … Continue reading “Germany: Court Convicts Man for Publicly…
    • Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
    • Date: 2022-12-06
  • Article
    Sweden: Parliament Adopts Change to Budget Bill Allowing Government to Gift Military Materiel to Ukraine On November 17, 2022, the Swedish parliament voted to amend the annual budget, allowing the government to gift up to 3.01 billion Swedish kronor (SEK) (about US$288.19 million) worth of military materiel to Ukraine in fiscal year 2022, which ends on December 31, 2022.The decision comes following a proposal by the parliament’s Committee on Finance. … Continue reading “Sweden: Parliament Adopts Change to Budget…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2022-12-06
  • Article
    Norway: Supreme Court Upholds Detention of Drone-Flying Russian, Calling Drones "Aircraft" On October 28, 2022, the Norwegian Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling and held that a Russian citizen was subject to detention for operating an unregistered drone in Svalbard, Norway. The issue before the court was whether operating this type of drone was prohibited under previously adopted sanction rules prohibiting Russian citizens from operating … Continue reading “Norway: Supreme Court Upholds Detention of…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2022-11-16
  • Article
    United States: Department of Justice Announces Charges Against Russian and Venezuelan Nationals Under Task Force KleptoCapture Initiative On October 19, 2022, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment charging five Russian and two Venezuelan nationals with the illegal sale of U.S. military goods and technology to Russia to support its war with Ukraine. The case, United States v. Orekhav, et al., involves the company … Continue reading “United States: Department of Justice Announces…
    • Contributor: Myers, Louis
    • Date: 2022-11-07
  • Article
    Switzerland: Federal Criminal Court Denies Mutual Legal Assistance to Russia due to Ukraine Invasion In a decision published on October 3, 2022, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) (Bundesstrafgericht, BStGer) held that Russia is not entitled to mutual legal assistance in criminal matters due its invasion of Ukraine, which the court ruled a serious violation of international law. As a consequence, it ordered the sequestration of the appellant’s bank … Continue reading “Switzerland: Federal Criminal Court Denies Mutual…
    • Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
    • Date: 2022-10-11
  • Article
    Finland: Government Limits Russian Tourist Visa Holders' Entry into Finland, Citing Threat to International Relations On September 29, 2022, the Finnish Government announced that it had issued a resolution effectively cancelling Russian tourist visas for entry into Finland.Under the European Schengen rules, which apply to Finland, tourists can be accepted into Finland only if “they are not considered to be a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or … Continue reading “Finland: Government Limits Russian Tourist Visa…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2022-10-02
  • Article
    Ukraine: Draft Law Introducing Criminal Liability for Forced Russian 'Passportization' in Temporarily Occupied Territories Approved On September 16, 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a draft law that makes Ukrainian civil servants and representatives of local authorities criminally liable for “passportization”—forcibly issuing Russian passports to civilians in Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by the Russian “aggressor state.”The draft law had been introduced by the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily … Continue reading “Ukraine: Draft Law Introducing Criminal Liability…
    • Contributor: Fremer, Iana
    • Date: 2022-09-28
  • Article
    European Union: Council Suspends Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russia On September 9, 2022, the Council of the European Union, the co-legislator of the European Union (EU), decided to fully suspend its visa facilitation agreement with Russia. The agreement had been partially suspended on February 25, 2022, in response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine. The decision will apply as of September 12, 2022. (Decision … Continue reading “European Union: Council Suspends Visa Facilitation…
    • Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
    • Date: 2022-09-20
  • Article
    United States: Department of State Files Declaration of Intervention to International Court of Justice in Ukraine v. Russian Federation Genocide Matter On September 7, 2022 the United States filed a Declaration of Intervention to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding acts of genocide allegedly committed by Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.Background to the ICJ ProceedingsThe Russian Federation invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Two days later, Ukraine instituted proceedings before the … Continue reading “United States: Department of State Files…
    • Contributor: Myers, Louis
    • Date: 2022-09-15
  • Article
    Sweden: Parliament Directs Government to Take Measures Regarding Swedish Energy Supply and Russian Oil and Gas Imports On May 19, 2022, the Swedish parliament passed a proposal to direct the Swedish government to take measures regarding Sweden’s reliance on Russian energy by, among other things, arguing for requiring “origin labeling of fossil energy” (ursprungsmärkning av fossil energi) in the European Union (EU). In addition, the parliament instructed the government to investigate the … Continue reading “Sweden: Parliament Directs Government to Take…
    • Contributor: Hofverberg, Elin
    • Date: 2022-07-27
  • Article
    European Union: Commission Proposes Legislation to Reduce Gas Use to Prepare for Russian Gas-Supply Disruptions On July 20, 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation to reduce gas use in Europe by 15% until the spring of 2023. The regulation intends to counter the reliance of European Union (EU) member states on Russian gas by improving the coordination framework for national gas-demand reduction measures. In addition, it … Continue reading “European Union: Commission Proposes Legislation to…
    • Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
    • Date: 2022-07-21
  • Article
    Russian Federation: Supreme Court Confirms Equal Rights of Teleworkers and Onsite Employees On May 19, 2022, the Russian official publication Rossiiskaia Gazeta reported that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation had ruled that the amount of a severance package of a laid-off teleworker must be the same as an onsite worker’s severance package.According to the plaintiff, she concluded a labor contract with the employer, under which … Continue reading “Russian Federation: Supreme Court Confirms Equal…
    • Contributor: Roudik, Peter
    • Date: 2022-07-07
  • Article
    Latvia: Legislature Adopts Amendments to Terminate Citizenship for Support of War Crimes in Light of Russian Invasion of Ukraine On April 21, 2022, the Saiema (Latvian legislature) adopted amendments to the Law on Citizenship that had been proposed by the Ministry of Justice providing for the termination of Latvian citizenship for dual citizens who provide support for war and other crimes against democratic countries.The Latvian new agency Delfi reported that the justification for introducing … Continue reading “Latvia: Legislature Adopts Amendments to Terminate…
    • Contributor: Roudik, Peter
    • Date: 2022-05-01
  • Article
    United States: Legislation Enacted Suspending Permanent and Normal Trade Relations with Russian Federation and Belarus On April 8, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 7108, legislation that suspends normal trade relations with the Russian Federation and Belarus. This change in trade status is among the United States government’s latest actions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unlike previous sanctions, which were implemented by the executive branch, the … Continue reading “United States: Legislation Enacted Suspending Permanent…
    • Contributor: Price, Anna
    • Date: 2022-04-22