UK lawyer says Diia state services portal could be used to file class action damages cases against Russia
UK lawyer says Diia state services portal could be used to file class action damages cases against Russia (Photo:Ruslan-Lytvyn / depositphotos)
The Ukrainian government is considering using the Diia state services app so Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression can file class action lawsuits against Moscow, UK lawyer Jason McCue said in an interview with NV published on April 23.
In order for Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression to receive reparations from Russians' assets, the Ukrainian government and the PayBack4Ukraine campaign are devising a mechanism to involve citizens in filing class action lawsuits abroad, McCue, the leader of the campaign and Senior Partner at UK law firm McCue Jury & Partners, told NV.
An interagency task force is developing such a mechanism under the coordination of Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the Head of the President's Office. During the first meeting, held in Kyiv on April 19, the group discussed how to use the Diia app to find and involve affected Ukrainians in lawsuits against Russia in different countries.
In particular, there are proposals to place an announcement in Diia with further verification of citizens who respond. If they meet the criteria, they will be able to act as plaintiffs and claim compensation from the aggressor.
"The Diia app is ideally suited to set up such a process in wartime," McCue said.
In November 2022, his company already filed a lawsuit against “Putin's chef” Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary company in a London court.
In the future, the lawyer, along with over 1,000 PayBack4Ukraine professionals from around the world, plan to file numerous lawsuits on behalf of Ukrainians against Russian criminals, including oligarchs, sanctions violators, propagandists, and those involved in the illegal arms trade with Russia.
"This is a unique (project) that has never been done on this scale," said McCue. "These (court) cases around the world are about real damages, but they require a lot of work and effort: you have to be the prosecutor in numerous class actions for damages, each of which is handled separately.”
“By working with your government, we can speed up this process."
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