Ukraine needs to ratify the Rome Statute in order to gain opportunities in the International Criminal Court (ICC) that it currently does not have.
Iryna Mudra, former deputy minister of justice and now deputy head of the Presidentʼs Office for legal affairs, told about this in an interview with Babel.
Due to the disinformation campaign, part of the society believes that in case of ratification of the ICC statute, it will be able to bring the Ukrainian military to justice. However, Mudra notes, the International Criminal Court can already do this — Ukraine recognized its jurisdiction on November 21, 2013.
If the statute is ratified, Ukraine will be able to participate in the assembly of states participating in the ICC and will have the right to influence the courtʼs priorities.
"Our delegation recently visited the ICC. There, in the secretariat, we were made to understand that if Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute, there would be great chances to appoint a judge from Ukraine in 2026-2027," Mudra said.
In addition, says Mudra, Ukraine calls on other countries to execute the arrest warrant for Putin and Lvova-Belova, but in response they immediately ask why Ukraine itself did not ratify the statute. Mudra said that she will work in this direction and talk to the military to convince them.
"I donʼt know who formed the opinion of the military. I heard many stories that it was some kind of cohort of lawyers. Therefore, now I want to meet with the Ministry of Defense, with the lawyers of the General Staff, in order to at least listen to their position, what concerns they have. Because it seems to me similar to a well-planned Russian information operation," she noted.
- Ukraine signed the Rome Statute on January 20, 2000, but has not yet ratified it.
- The International Criminal Court started working in 2002. It is based on the Rome Statute, which defines the procedure of the court, as well as what crimes it considers: genocide, crimes against humanity (rape, torture, deportation), war crimes (murder of civilians, destruction of civilian property, attacks on doctors, etc.) and crimes of aggression (invasion or attack on an independent country, occupation of some of its territory, etc.).