Strasbourg takes another step towards establishing a Special Tribunal to investigate Russian war crimes

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

At a meeting in Strasbourg, the Core Group

The Core Group is a group of states where ambassadors and legal advisors are developing a possible model for a special tribunal on Russian aggression. It currently includes about 40 states.
coalition completed work at the expert level on legal documents to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

This was reported by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha.

Work on key documents lasted two years. Now there will be a political consideration of the creation of such a tribunal.

"I am grateful to all countries and experts who have made such significant efforts. Accountability must be unavoidable, in particular for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, in order to strengthen international criminal law," said Sybiha.

Ukraine insists on the creation of a special tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, since the International Criminal Court and other similar institutions cannot consider cases for such crimes at this stage.

The need to create a special tribunal for Russia has already been supported by a number of European and international institutions, including the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the NATO and OSCE Parliamentary Assemblies, as well as individual countries (for example, France, Germany, and Latvia).

Once the special tribunal is operational, the Ukrainian authorities will be able to transfer ongoing domestic investigations and prosecutions related to the crime of aggression to the prosecutor of the special tribunal.

Ukraine will also have the opportunity to send relevant evidence to the tribunal, including information collected by the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression.

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