By ratifying the Rome Statute, Ukraine becomes a full member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including the right to amend the Statute, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk has said.

"You know, our task as parliamentarians is to make this [amendments to the Rome Statute] possible at the legislative level. And then, I am convinced, specialists should work who can deeply analyze and make [suggest] their own changes, their own interpretations, provisions regarding the Rome Statute. [...] Now we will have such a right," he told a press briefing on Wednesday.

According to Stefanchuk, professionals from the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Ministry of Justice will take part in this work.

"They will be able to propose professional changes that will definitely protect the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians, as a party and as a participant in the Rome Statute," he said.

Stefanchuk described the ratification of the Rome Statute by the Verkhovna Rada as a historic event. He also said that on the eve of the ratification of the Statute, the leaders of the factions and groups of the parliament held a meeting "with professional military men, with professional military lawyers, who removed all the myths concerning the Rome Statute and which had been circulating in Ukraine for so long."

"Everything was explained, why there was a 7-year delay, why the Rome Statute has advantages over what we have now, having actually recognized the jurisdiction of the Rome Statute, but not having any powers regarding, let's say, the implementation of rights," he said.

As reported, the Verkhovna Rada ratified the Rome Statute at a plenary session on Wednesday with statements on the procedure for relations with the ICC and for seven years after the entry into force of the Rome Statute "does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court with respect to its citizens for the commission of crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute" (war crimes).