'
Russia loses the legal battle over the embassy in Canberra, but will be compensated
International

Russia loses the legal battle over the embassy in Canberra, but will be compensated

author
2 minutes, 4 seconds Read

Australia can reclaim a proposed site for a Russian embassy, ​​but will have to compensate the authoritarian state for terminating its lease on the land.
In 2023, Australia quickly passed laws to cancel Russia’s lease on a plot of land where it planned to build an embassy a few hundred meters from Parliament House in Canberra.
The government claimed that the site could pose a threat to national security.
Russia described the termination of the 99-year lease, granted by the Australian government in 2008, as a hostile action amounting to “Russophobic hysteria”.
It took the fight to the Supreme Court, arguing that the laws were unconstitutional and that there was no evidence that the embassy posed a threat to national security.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government on Wednesday, ruling that the laws were valid.

However, it ruled that Russia was entitled to compensation, with the government also having to pay half of Russia’s legal costs.

Construction on the site stalled, but a Russian official squatted on the site to thwart any Australian attempt to reclaim it. Source: MONKEY / Mick Tsikas

No developments were completed on the plot, but an official squatted on the land after the decision to frustrate any Australian attempt to reclaim it.

ASIO provided ‘specific advice’ about the site

Top lawyer Bret Walker SC, representing Russia, previously argued that it was insulting to assume that people would willingly give up their property without compensation because national security reasons were invoked.

Citing an army barracks as an example, he said the Commonwealth would have the right to acquire land around the structure to protect its security, but would still be expected to pay the owners.

Solicitor General Stephen Donaghue argued that the government had the power and authority to make laws that deprived the Russians of their tenancy.
The Commonwealth also relied on “specific advice” on the nature of the planned construction and the capability the site location would provide to the Russian mission.
ASIO’s advice was not detailed in court due to protection of public interest immunity.

No compensation should be paid to a country “for problems of their own making,” Donaghue previously told the Supreme Court.

Walker said it was “really disturbing” to propose the takeover of land without compensation on pre-emptive national security grounds where no explicit threat had been proven.
He said such a precedent is absurd and would mean that “everyone, until proven otherwise, should be considered a terrorist threat.”

#Russia #loses #legal #battle #embassy #Canberra #compensated

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *