LONDON—The Financial Times has named Covington a winner of the Government & Policy category at its Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2023 for its pro bono representation of Ukraine in a case before the International Court of Justice arising from Russia's full-scale invasion launched in February 2022. The firm was also recognized as a stand-out firm in Responsible Business. In total, the FT highlighted three Covington matters for their innovation.
On February 26, 2022, just two days after the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion, the Government of Ukraine, acting on the advice of a Covington team led by partners Marney Cheek, Jonathan Gimblett and David Zionts, submitted an application initiating proceedings against the Russian Federation before the International Court of Justice. The application was accompanied by a request that the ICJ order interim relief in the form of provisional measures requiring Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.
This urgent and ground-breaking case was brought pursuant to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention), which confers jurisdiction on the ICJ to hear disputes relating to the “interpretation, application or fulfilment” of the Genocide Convention. It is based on the claim by Russian President Putin that its invasion of Ukraine was justified by the need to stop a purported genocide in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The Covington team alongside their co-counsel presented oral arguments to the Court in the Peace Palace on March 7, 2022. Just nine days later, by a vote of 13 to 2, the Court ordered Russia to “immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine," and to “ensure that any military or irregular armed units which may be directed or supported by it, as well as any organizations and persons which may be subject to its control or direction, take no steps in furtherance of the military operations," which the Court ordered to be suspended.
When the FT award was announced, the Covington team was back in The Hague for a further hearing in the case, arguing that the Court should dismiss the various jurisdictional objections asserted by Russia in a bid to prevent the case from proceeding to the merits.
Covington was also named a stand out firm in the category Responsible Business for the firm's pro bono representation of a self-employed Polish TV producer who was terminated for his sexual orientation. In January 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union recognized a person’s protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation regardless of employment status, setting an EU-wide precedent.
In addition, the FT commended Covington for its pro bono work advising the Ukrainian Business and Trade Association, which contributed to the EU’s and UK’s suspension of quotas and tariffs for agricultural and industrial goods exported from Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February 2022.
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