The lower house of parliament had an investigation carried out into the downing of flight MH17. Marieke de Hoon’s role was to determine the legal possibilities for the victims and the states involved.
The day after the MH17 disaster, VU researcher Marieke de Hoon began her investigation at the request of the lower house of parliament in the Netherlands. Since then, she has been analysing the legal aspects and following the developments of the Joint Investigation Team, the criminal proceedings and international legal proceedings. She participates in public hearings of the lower house of parliament, advises the next of kin and explains the complex legal proceedings in public lectures and the media.
On 17 July 2014, flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine, where an armed conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists supported by Russia was taking place. The Netherlands holds Russia responsible for its involvement and invited Russia to make agreements on how the parties could reach settlements among themselves. These negotiations failed and the Netherlands, along with next of kin, brought a case against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights. It is also considering taking Russia to the International Court of Justice for its role in the downing of MH17 and its failure to punish those responsible. Since March 2020, criminal proceedings have also been taking place at the court in The Hague against four individual defendants—three Russians and one Ukrainian—for their role in shooting down MH17. In addition, the Netherlands has announced that, for the time being, it is not considering similar proceedings against Ukraine for its failure to close its airspace.