Doctor of legal sciences, senior lawyer, deputy head of EUCON construction, energy law and environmental law practice Olha Sushyk spoke during the Polish-Ukrainian conference from the Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego and the EU Project in Ukraine “Law-Justice”, which took place on February 23 in Warsaw.
The conference was held in a hybrid format – in parallel within the walls of the Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego and online, and the purpose of the event was to discuss urgent problems in the context of the dynamic growth of legal relations between individuals and legal entities from Poland and Ukraine in commercial, civil, family and labour matters, as well as in the field international civil procedure and international private law.
During her speech, Olha Sushyk discussed the topic of compensatory liability for damage caused to the natural environment during armed conflicts and the content of Art. 35 of the Polish-Ukrainian Mutual Assistance Agreement of 1993. In particular, Ms. Olha noted that the losses to Ukraine’s natural environment as a result of the war are currently estimated at more than 46 billion euros, and she also analyzed the normative legal acts that regulate the issue of compensation for damage caused to the environment. The speaker gave examples of practical cases, according to which countries managed to bring to justice those responsible for committing environmental crimes.
Olha Sushyk emphasized the fact that the UN created a special body to compensate for environmental and other damages – the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), which managed to settle claims for 52.4 billion dollars. The expert detailed the powers of the body and categories of requirements for persons who have the right to apply for compensation.
An important part of the speech was the discussion of the actions that Ukraine should take at the international level for further compensation for damages from the Russian Federation: according to the expert, it is necessary to call on the UN and the Security Council to adopt appropriate resolutions condemning armed aggression against Ukraine and to create an auxiliary body for compensation of damages, call for the creation of a special fund to pay compensation to Ukraine, other states, legal entities and individuals who suffered as a result of aggression. In conclusion, Olha Sushyk analyzed the steps taken by Ukraine at the domestic level to solve problems in the specified area.
Speakers of the conference also became: Doctor of Law Maciej De Abgaro Zachariasiewicz – teacher, professor of the civil law department of the Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego; Prof. Maksymilian Pazdan – former member of the Commission for Codification of Civil Law under the Ministry of Justice of Poland, corresponding member of the International Academy of Comparative Law in Paris, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences; Doctor of Law Krzysztof Pacula – referee at the Court of the European Union, editor of conflictoflaws.net, secretary and member of the Board of the Polish Association of European Law; Doctor of Law Marcin Margonski – deputy state notary in Krapkowitz, author of publications in the fields of international private law and international civil procedure, lecturer in the field of foreign trade for judges and notaries, expert on foreign law in Polish court proceedings; Maksym Shcherbyuk – intern legal advisor at the District Chamber of Legal Advisers in Warsaw, a junior lawyer at Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak.
