Russia can be expelled from UN: ex-chairman of Lithuanian Constitutional Court describes mechanism

Dainius Žalimas, the president of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania (2014-2021), the dean of the Faculty of Law at Vytautas Magnus University and a member of the Venice Commission, said this in an interview with Ukrinform. 

De jure, it is impossible to expel Russia from the UN, because the aggressor country will certainly use its veto.

"Formally, Russia should be expelled not only from the Security Council but from the UN in general. There is a reason for this - aggression as a serious violation of the UN Charter. But this is impossible because expulsion is approved by 2/3 of the UN General Assembly after the recommendation of the Security Council. We all understand that Russia will not agree with such a recommendation and will veto it," said Žalimas.

At the same time, he said, there is a loophole.

"But there is a mechanism to exclude Russia from the UN de facto. This is a refusal to recognize the powers of Russia's representatives by a majority vote in the General Assembly, as well as in the Security Council. This is a procedural issue, and it is impossible to veto it in the Security Council. The reason is the policy of the Russian government, which is not peaceful and is directed against the goals and principles of the UN, which are spelled out in the organization's charter. Such a precedent was set in the case of South Africa when its representatives were not recognized because of the apartheid policy," the lawyer said.

• Last year, Ukraine initiated the process of expelling Russia from the Security Council and the UN as a whole.