Canada has become the first non-member state of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe to sign the convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine.
The convention was signed today by Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, in the presence of Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha.
The International Claims Commission will be the second part of a comprehensive compensation mechanism related to Russia’s war of aggression, building on the existing Register of Damage for Ukraine.
The Register of Damage, created in 2023, collects and records compensation claims submitted by individuals, organisations and public bodies in Ukraine.
Forty-four states, including Canada, plus the European Union have so far joined the Register, which has already received over 150,000 claims.
The International Claims Commission will review, assess and decide upon claims submitted to the Register of Damage and determine the amount of compensation, if any, which is due in each case.
It will also assess claims received after the Register of Damage becomes integrated into the International Claims Commission, as is foreseen by the convention.
The convention establishing the International Claims Commission was launched at a diplomatic conference in The Hague last December, in the presence of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The convention has so far been signed by 35 of the Council of Europe 46 member states, plus the European Union as a whole. Estonia became the first country to formally finalise the ratification of the convention on 30 April.
Like the Register of Damage, the International Claims Commission will be established within the framework of the Council of Europe and is open to other countries to join.
Canada was granted observer status to the Council of Europe in May 1996.
Learn more about the Claims Commission for Ukraine
