Aristotle’s concept of corrective justice in the context of the civil liability of those complicit in Russian aggression

In this academic article, Oleh Malinevskyi examines how Aristotle’s classical concept of corrective justice could serve as a legal basis for holding companies and other entities accountable that have contributed financially, technologically or in any other way to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Key points:

- the aggressor state alone is not enough: companies that knowingly supported the war machine and benefited from it must bear joint and several liability towards the victims of the war;

- ‘benefit’, as understood by Aristotle, encompasses not only direct profit but also the preservation of business, competitive advantages, state awards and other gains derived from participation in the aggression;

- Ukrainian civil law already contains the necessary instruments: Articles 1166, 1190 and 1191 of the Civil Code of Ukraine; however, the author proposes supplementing the Code with a separate article on liability for war damage.

Victims of war should not be left to cope with their losses alone simply because the principal aggressor is out of reach. The law has the tools, and they must be utilised.