Ukraine and CoE agree on special tribunal
Ukraine and the Council of Europe have signed an agreement that will set up a special tribunal to examine the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine will have a mandate to prosecute senior Russian leaders for aggression – the decision to use armed force against another state – in violation of the UN Charter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed the agreement in Strasbourg yesterday (25 June).
Co-operation
Senior legal experts from around 40 states worked together with the Ukrainian authorities, the Council of Europe (CoE), and the EU to draft the three legal instruments needed to establish the tribunal.
In an address to the council’s parliamentary assembly, Zelenskyy hailed Europe’s commitment to justice.
“It will take strong political and legal co-operation to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice – including Putin. This is the path we must walk – all the way to real charges and real verdicts,” he added.
ICC
The CoE says that the tribunal is expected to reach agreements of mutual co-operation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine, but it cannot currently examine the crime of aggression in this case due to jurisdictional limitations.