Creation of special tribunal necessary due to gaps in international justice, to become symbol of era - analytical report
The creation of a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine is a necessary step to overcome the gaps in the current system of international justice, notes an analytical report on the state and prospects of holding the leadership of the Russian Federation accountable for the crime of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine. The report was presented at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday.
"It is this mechanism that will make it possible to hold accountable those who are at the highest levels of power and make decisions that lead to mass violations of international law," says the report, presented by experts from the United Ukraine think tank Valentyn Gladkikh, Dmytro Levus, Petro Oleschuk and Ighr Popov.
Since the crime of aggression is a separate category of offenses, unlike war crimes and crimes against humanity, it can only be incriminated against the top leadership of the country that made the decision to attack.
"So the work of the tribunal will primarily concern the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. About two dozen Russian officials should appear in the case. The tribunal will focus on high-ranking political and military leaders responsible for planning, preparing, initiating and committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine," the authors of the document noted.
The new tribunal will be created for the first time in history against a nuclear state that is not in a state of surrender. The political and legal weight of the processes, despite the fact that most of them will be in absentia, will become precedent-setting.
It is noted that within the framework of the seventh point of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, the creation of a special tribunal is considered not as an alternative, but as a complement to the work of the International Criminal Court on national judicial bodies.
"This allows for a comprehensive approach to bringing to justice all types of international crimes, including the crime of aggression, which has so far often remained without an adequate legal response at the global level," the analytical report says.
At the same time, the existence of legal gaps, resistance from individual states, as well as the difficulty of ensuring the collection and preservation of evidence of crimes, especially in occupied territories, as well as the protection of witnesses and victims, are noted.
"It is advisable for the Ukrainian authorities to maintain a high level of political attention to the issue of the legal responsibility of the Russian Federation, integrating this topic into all international negotiations, summits and bilateral contacts. It is also important to strengthen information work with the countries of the Global South, explaining the universality and fairness of the requirements for responsibility for aggression," the report emphasizes.
The authors call the International Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression "an important symbol of the era", since it will be an attempt by the civilized world to hold accountable those who commit aggressive wars.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset signed an agreement on a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine on Wednesday in The Hague. "For the first time, a special international tribunal is being created to try crimes of aggression. This tribunal, established within the framework of the Council of Europe, will hold accountable those who have used force in violation of the UN Charter, applying international law without double standards and confirming that the security of Europe is not based on silence or impunity, but on law, principles and actions," Berset said.
At the same time, the special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine will consider cases not only against the Russian Federation. Participation in the Special Tribunal will not be limited to the 46 countries that are members of the Council of Europe and any other country can join the treaty.