On May 12, 2025, the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ruled that the Russian Federation was responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. While several countries welcomed the decision and referred to it as an “important step towards establishing the truth and achieving justice” (Al Jazeera, 2025), Russia rejected the ICAO’s decision. The first section of this article will discuss the role of the ICAO and the events leading to the ICAO’s ruling on flight MH17. The article will then argue that while it may be difficult to achieve true justice for the victims of flight MH17, the ICAO’s decision is still impactful because it provides those who lost loved ones on the flight with the truth about the incident and sends a message to all States that the ICAO does not ignore violations of international law.

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What is the International Civil Aviation Organization?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a United Nations agency that works with its Member States to “support the safe, secure, sustainable and efficient operation of international civil aviation” (ICAO, Frequently Asked Questions). The organization was established by the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, commonly known as the Chicago Convention. There are 193 signatory States to the Convention that collectively form the ICAO Assembly (ICAO, Member States). The Assembly adopts resolutions, sets the ICAO’s
budget and work program, and pursues diplomatic and technical consensus on the ICAO’s priorities, policies, and targets for international civil aviation (ICAO, The ICAO Assembly).

 

The members of the Assembly are tasked with electing 36 States to serve on the ICAO Council, a governing body that is responsible for appointing the Secretary General of the ICAO Secretariat and convening Assembly sessions. The Chicago Convention also gives the Council the authority to resolve disputes between countries. Under Article 84 of the Convention, the Council is empowered to “arbitrate between Member States on matters relevant to the Chicago Convention and civilian aviation, issue statements or condemnations reflecting their diplomatic consensus, or call for investigations into international aviation matters of high concern” (ICAO, Functions of the Council; Chicago Convention, Article 84). It is through this provision that, in 2022, Australia and the Netherlands brought their case concerning flight MH17 before the ICAO.

Flight MH17

On July 17, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine (Treisman, 2022). All 298 people aboard the aircraft were killed, making it one of the deadliest air disasters in history. Approximately one month later, together with Australia, Malaysia, and Belgium, the Netherlands established a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to look into the incident (Doubek, 2018). The JIT concluded that flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a Buk surface-to-air missile system that had been transported from Russia into the area of eastern Ukraine soon before the incident (Baboolal, 2025).

When Russia refused “to take responsibility for its role in the downing of flight MH17” (Treisman, 2022), the Australian and Dutch governments submitted their evidence about the downing of flight MH17 to the ICAO. In 2023, the ICAO Council voted to hear their case against Russia (Lampert, 2023).

The ICAO Council’s Decision and its Implications

As discussed in the introductory paragraph of this article, the ICAO Council found that Russia’s involvement in the downing of flight MH17 did indeed constitute a breach of its obligations under the Chicago Convention (ICAO, 2025). In its decision, the Council drew specific attention to Article 3bis of the Convention – an amendment that was added to the text in 1984 after a South Korean passenger plane was shot down by the Soviet military – which says that States must refrain from using “weapons against civil aircraft in flight” (Chicago Convention, Article 3bis(a)). The Council’s vote was particularly important as it marked the first time in the ICAO’s history that the ICAO Council “made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism” (UN News, 2025).

The Netherlands and Australia have since called upon the ICAO to swiftly determine reparations for the victims of flight MH17 and to order Russia to enter into talks with both countries. (Al Jazeera, 2025). There is no precedent for what the ICAO might do in this matter, however, it is important to note that aside from having the ability to suspend the voting power of a State in the event of non-conformity (Chicago Convention, Article 88), the ICAO does not have any type of authority or power over its Member States. As Russia has already rejected the Council’s ruling (Eruygur, 2025), it is unlikely that the Russian government will cooperate with any future order from the body regarding flight MH17. Thus, it may be difficult to achieve justice in the form of monetary compensation (to the families and loved ones) for the death of those onboard.

Still, the ICAO’s inability to initiate concrete action in response to violations of international aviation law does not mean that the Council’s decision will not carry any impact. The families and loved ones of the victims of flight MH17 now have the truth about what happened on July 17, 2014, and once the Council releases its formal decision that sets out the reasons of fact and law that influenced its conclusion, they will be able to find out more about the events leading to the downing of the aircraft. Additionally, even if Russia does not agree to enter into talks about reparations for the victims of flight MH17, the ICAO Council’s decision still sends a clear message that “States cannot violate international law with impunity” (Al Jazeera, 2025).

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References

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Al Jazeera. (2025, May 13). Russia must assume responsibility for MH17 Downing: UN aviation
agency. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/13/un-aviation-agency-rules-russia-responsible-for-mh1
7-downing

Baboolal, S. (2025, May 13). UN body finds Russia responsible for downing of Malaysian
Airlines Flight MH17. JURISTnews. https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/05/un-body-finds-russia-responsible-for-downing-of-malaysian-airlines-flight-mh17/

Bartsch, R. (2022, March 15). Does the UN aviation body have the power to punish Russia for
the MH17 downing? An aviation law expert explains. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/does-the-un-aviation-body-have-the-power-to-punish-russia-for-the-mh17-downing-an-aviation-law-expert-explains-179288

Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). (1944) 15 U.N.T.S. 295. 7 December 1944.

Disimine, A. (2021, August 23). The Role of the ICAO in Maintaining Safe Skies. Public
International Law & Policy Group. https://www.publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/lawyering-justice-blog/2021/8/23/the-critical-role-of-the-icao-in-maintaining-safe-skies

Doubek, J. (2018, May 24). Russia is legally responsible for downing of MH17, Netherlands and
Australia say. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/24/613979423/investigators-say-missile-that-downed-mh17-came-from-russian-military

Eruygur, B. (2025, May 13). Russia rejects ICAO ruling finding it responsible for downing of
Flight MH17. Anadolu Ajansı. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-war/russia-rejects-icao-ruling-finding-it-responsible-for-downing-of-flight-mh17/3566239

ICAO Council vote on Flight MH17 case. ICAO. (2025, May 12). https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/icao-council-vote-on-flight-mh17-case.aspx

Lampert, A. (2023, March 18). U.N. Aviation Council votes to hear MH17 case against Russia.
Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/un-aviation-council-votes-hear-mh17-case-against-russia-2023-0
3-17/

Needham, K., & Sterling, T. (2022, March 14). Australia, Netherlands start UN action against
Russia over MH17. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-netherlands-start-legal-action-against-russia-downing-m
h17-2022-03-14/

Treisman, R. (2022, March 14). Australia and the Netherlands launch a new case against Russia
over 2014 jet downing. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/03/14/1086449199/australia-netherlands-malaysia-airlines-mh17-russia

United Nations. (2025, May 13). UN Aviation Council finds Russia responsible for downing of Malaysia Airlines flight. UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163161

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