Yuri Parkhomenko

Associate - Washington, D.C.

Bio photo for Yuri Parkhomenko

Contact Information

Yuri Parkhomenko practices Public International Law, focusing on international dispute resolution.

Yuri counsels and represents sovereign States before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal on the Law for the Sea and ad hoc arbitral tribunals in disputes concerning territorial sovereignty, maritime and land boundary delimitation, international responsibility, treaty interpretation, use of force, human rights, and environment. Among many inter-State cases, Yuri was counsel for the Philippines in Philippines v. China over maritime jurisdiction and entitlements in the South China Sea; and most recently for Mauritius in advisory proceedings regarding the decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago.

More »

Education:

  • Harvard Law School, LL.M, 2009
  • The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy, Hargens Scholar, 2008
  • Lund University Law School, Master of Public International Law, 2000
  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Diploma of Specialist (Public International Law), with honors, 1998

Languages:

Ukrainian, Russian, German

Representative Experience

Inter-State litigation and arbitration before the International Court of Justice, ITLOS, and other international tribunals

  • Legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Request for Advisory Opinion). Representation of Mauritius in advisory opinion proceedings before the ICJ on whether the decolonization of Mauritius was lawfully completed in light of the United Kingdom’s excision and retention of the Chagos Archipelago.
  • Republic of the Philippines v. Peoples Republic of China (Arbitration under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). Counsel to the Philippines  in case concerning the legality of China’s claims to maritime areas within its claimed “nine-dash” line in the South China Sea, the legal status of maritime features in the disputed area and their entitlements under UNCLOS.
  • Nicaragua v. Colombia (Case Concerning Territorial and Maritime Dispute). Counsel to Nicaragua in case concerning disputed sovereignty over islands in the Western Caribbean, and the delimitation of the maritime boundary.
  • Nicaragua v. Colombia (Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea). Counsel to Nicaragua in case concerning the violations of Nicaragua’s sovereign rights and maritime zones declared by the Court’s Judgment of 19 November 2012 and the threat of the use of force by Colombia.
  • Georgia v. Russia (Case Concerning Application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination). Counsel to Georgia in case concerning Russia’s participation in and support for ethnic cleansing of ethnic Georgians from areas occupied by Russian forces following the armed conflict of August 2008.
  • Mauritius v. the United Kingdom (Arbitration under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). Counsel to Mauritius in case concerning the lawfulness of the exercise by the United Kingdom of sovereign rights and jurisdiction within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Chagos Archipelago.
  • Bangladesh v. Myanmar (International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea). Counsel to Bangladesh in case concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone, continental shelf within 200 nautical miles and outer continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal.
  • Bangladesh v. India (Arbitration under Annex VII of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). Counsel to Bangladesh in case concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the territorial sea, Exclusive Economic Zone, continental shelf within 200 nautical miles and outer continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal.
  • Nicaragua v. Colombia (Question of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan Coast).  Counsel to Nicaragua in case concerning the delimitation of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Caribbean Sea.
  • Ecuador v. Colombia (Case Concerning Aerial Spraying on the Border). Counsel to Ecuador in case concerning Colombia's aerial spraying of toxic herbicides in close proximity to the Ecuadorian border, causing serious harm to human health, livestock, crops and the environment in Ecuador.
  • Ecuador v. the United States of America (Ad Hoc UNCITRAL Tribunal under the Ecuador-US bilateral investment treaty). Counsel to Ecuador in State-to-State arbitration concerning the interpretation of the bilateral investment treaty. 
  • Croatia v. Slovenia. (Ad hoc Arbitration). Counsel to the Republic of Croatia in arbitration concerning the delimitation of land and maritime boundaries.
  • Nicaragua v. Costa Rica (Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean). Counsel to Nicaragua in a case concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundaryboundaries in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
  • Ghana v. Cote d’Ivoire (an ITLOS Special Chamber). Counsel to Ghana in case concerning the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea.
  • Somalia v. Kenya (Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean). Counsel to Somalia in case concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.

Investor-State Dispute Settlement

  • Philip Morris Brands et. al. v. the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (ICSID). Counsel to Uruguay in case brought by Swiss tobacco companies concerning Uruguay's regulation of cigarette packaging and health warnings.
  • Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Limited and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Limited v. Kingdom of Belgium (ICSID). Counsel to Belgium in arbitration brought by Chinese companies challenging Belgium’s adoption of financial and banking regulations in response to an economic crisis. 
  • Gosling, et al v. The Republic of Mauritius (ICSID). Counsel to Mauritius in case challenging the State’s refusal to issue a permit for a luxury development complex in an area inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
  • City State et al. v. Ukraine (ICSID). Counsel to Ukraine in case brought by Dutch investors concerning a dispute arising from measures in the Ukrainian banking and finance sector. EURAM Investment Bank AG v. Slovak Republic (UNCITRAL Ad-Hoc Arbitration).  Counsel to Slovakia in arbitration over a dispute arising from changes in the Slovakian health insurance sector.
  • European American Investment Bank AG (Austria) v. The Slovak Republic. Counsel to Slovakia in an UNCITRAL arbitration concerning claims arising from modifications in health insurance sector.
  • Gold Reserve v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (ICSID Additional Facility). Counsel to Venezuela in arbitration commenced by a Canadian gold mining company.
    Vannessa Ventures Ltd. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (ICSID Additional Facility). Counsel to Venezuela in arbitration commenced by a Canadian gold mining company following the cancellation of a gold mining contract. 
  • Highbury International AVV and Ramstein Trading Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Counsel to Venezuela in case brought by a Netherlands Antilles company under the Netherlands-Venezuela bilateral investment treaty, alleging the expropriation of mining concessions. 

 

  • Chapter, “Evidence of Environmental Harm,” in INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS AND THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT (forthcoming in 2020) (eds. S. Mead, B. Samson and E. Sobenes).
  • Book, CANONS OF CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER INTERPRETATIVE PRINCIPLES IN PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (Co-editor with J. Klingler and C. Salonidis) (2018). 
  • Chapter, “Nicaragua v. United States and Matters of Evidence before the International Court of Justice,” in NICARAGUA BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: IMPACTS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW (2018) (eds. B. Samson and E. Sobenes) (co-author with P.S. Reichler)
  • Chapter, “The Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v. Colombia) and its implications for future maritime delimitations in the Caribbean Sea and Elsewhere,” in NICARAGUA BEFORE THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: IMPACTS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW (2018) (eds. B. Samson and E. Sobenes) (co-author with L.H. Martin)
  • Article, “Does the Chorzów Factory Standard Apply in Investment Arbitration? Contextual Reappraisal,” THE ICSID REVIEW – FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW JOURNAL, Volume 32, Issue 2 (1 May 2017), pages 304-325 (co-author with R. Goodman)
  • Article, “International Courts,” THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER 125 (2010) (co-author with Y. Andreeva, M. Brunetti, R. Goodman, G. Lemenez, C. Pillion and C. Romano)
  • Article,“The Adaptation of States to the Changing World of Investment Protection Through Model BITs,” ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal, Vol. 24 No.1 (Spring 2009) (Co-worked with M. Clodfelter)
  • Article, “A Case of Equitable Maritime Delimitation: Nicaragua and Colombia in the Western Caribbean Sea,” 2 REVISTA TRIBUNA INTERNACIONAL 3 (2013) (Co-worked with P.S. Reichler).

Honors

  • George B. and Helen J. Hargens Scholar, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 2007-2008
  • Award for Outstanding Performance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, 2005

Involvement

  •  American Society of International Law, Member
  • Ukrainian Society of International Law, Founding Member
  • Lecturer and tutor at the International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU) workshop on Resolving International Boundary Disputes, Paris, July 2019.
  • Lecturer at ITLOS-Nippon Foundation Capacity-building and Training Programme on Dispute Settlement under UNCLOS, ITLOS, Hamburg, October 2018.
  • Panelist, “Unilateral Appointment of Arbitrators and Ad Hoc Judges,” at the Conference on the Legitimacy of Unseen Actors in International Adjudication, at Leiden University, The Hague, October 2017.
  • Lecturer and tutor at the International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU) workshop on Islands in Maritime Jurisdiction & Boundary Delimitation, Dubai, November 2016. 
  • Speaker, “Arbitration on the South China Sea: the Tribunal’s awards and their Implications,” George Washington University Law School, September 2016.
  • Speaker, “Conflicts and tensions in investment arbitration: the tobacco cases,” The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, May 2016.
  • Speaker, "Legal Remedies Available to Ukraine under International Law to Protect its Rights violated by the Russian Federation," Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, March 2015.
  • Speaker, "Compliance with jurisdictional preconditions before submitting claims to the International Court of Justice", Seminar on Legal Remedies Available to Ukraine to Protect its Interests in Light of Russia’s Aggression in the Eastern Ukraine and the Annexation of Crimea, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Kyiv, December 2014.
  • Speaker, “Investor-State Arbitration and International Commercial Arbitration: Recent Developments and Practical Aspects”, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Kyiv, September 2012.
Translate
Add to Bio Folder

Download Bio

English French Spanish

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Authorized to practice law in Ukraine