Switzerland has informed that it supports the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland on November 16.
Countries advocating the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine have been meeting for several months within the framework of the main group of countries and jointly working out decisions on the future format of the tribunal, its location and methods of work. Switzerland officially joined the main group at a meeting in Berlin on November 16. The country was represented by Ambassador Franz Perres, head of the Office of Public International Law.
Switzerland states that the success of such a tribunal will depend on several factors, it must:
- have a strong legal basis and comply with international norms and standards;
- complement existing mechanisms, especially the International Criminal Court;
- use international support;
- have an international character.
In addition to supporting the creation of a special tribunal, Switzerland will push for a revision of the Rome Statute to facilitate the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) so that it can deal with crimes of aggression in all contexts.
In recent months, 38 countries, including France, Germany, Norway, Guatemala, Japan and Canada, have supported the initiative for a special tribunal.
Aggression Tribunal
Ukraine has been working for more than a year and a half to create a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression and bring Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials to justice there. In order to overcome Putinʼs presidential immunity, as well as for the tribunal to be legitimate, it must be supported by the worldʼs leading democracies, first of all the United States — and they are not against it, but not at all in the format that Ukraine needs.
Ukraine insists on the International Tribunal, and the USA supports an internationalized tribunal, which will be part of the Ukrainian judicial system, but with the involvement of international prosecutors. National courts cannot override the immunity of the head of state, but the US does not want to set a precedent that will lead to an investigation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.