Results of the workshop on the topic “Proving negative facts in the practice of international courts”

On April 23rd, the Scientific Research Laboratory of International Justice (LIJ) hosted a discussion on the challenges of proving negative facts in international justice.

The topic was addressed in light of the upcoming consideration by the International Court of Justice of Ukraine's claims in the Case Concerning Allegations of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation). The discussion was based on a report presented by Adam Nalgiev (an intern-researcher at LIJ and a lawyer of international practice at “Ivanian & Partners” Law Firm). The report highlighted key aspects of the topic, such as the principle "actori incumbit onus probandi", the impact on its applicability of the issue of proving negative facts, approaches to this question in the practice of international courts and arbitrations, and the theoretical approaches to dispelling the "myth" of the difficulty of proving such facts.

As a result of an intense discussion, participants proposed ideas for further research on the topic, including a comparative analysis of the approach to burden of proof in non-violation complaints within the WTO and an examination of national court approaches to proving negative facts.

The event's discussants included Vera Nikolaevna Rusinova (Professor, Head of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law, HSE University), Yuriy Yevgenevich Rovnov (Senior Research Fellow at the International Center of Competition Law and Policy of BRICS, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, HSE University, Research Fellow at LIJ), and Alexey Vladimirovich Petrenko (Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, HSE University).

LIJ expresses gratitude to the event's participants for their active involvement and invites everyone to take part in future Laboratory events.