The British governmentʼs minister for European affairs, Leo Doherty, says that Great Britain is studying different ways to create a tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, both international and hybrid.
Doherty said this in a comment to a Babel correspondent on the sidelines of the YES annual meeting.
“We are very focused on exploring the correct legal pathways to any tribunal. This is the most important thing, because if there is no stable legal basis, then such a tribunal will not be a viable and useful mechanism," he explained.
Doherty could not answer the question of whether it is worth creating a tribunal format that would make it impossible to prosecute the president, foreign minister and prime minister of Russia for the crime of aggression.
"I cannot give a definitive answer yet, because we are still studying these issues. But we, like no other country, strive to support justice for the victims of war crimes in Ukraine," he added.
- Ukraine insists on the creation of an international tribunal on aggression in a format that could prosecute the president, who enjoys immunity. Such immunity can only be overcome by an international tribunal, which would be created by the UN Security Council (this is impossible, because Russia, as a member of the UN Security Council, will block such an idea), through the General Assembly, which will instruct the Secretary General to sign an agreement with Ukraine on the creation of such a tribunal or an international agreement between many countries on the establishment of such an international tribunal.
- The United States and the G7, which includes Great Britain, have expressed their support for the creation of an internationalized tribunal. That is, one that would be based on Ukrainian legislation and pronounce judgment in the name of Ukraine. But such a tribunal will not be able to overcome Putinʼs presidential immunity.