Communiqué of the participants of the international conference “Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Justice to be served”

21 August 2023, Kyiv, Ukraine

We, participants of the international conference “Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Justice to be served” gathered in Kyiv on 21 August 2023 to discuss the need to ensure accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and establish the relevant Special tribunal, have agreed as follows.

More than nine years ago, in February 2014, Ukraine became the victim of acts of aggression committed by the Russian Federation in a blatant denial of the foundational principle of the prohibition of the use of force against sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of another State and the right of all peoples to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion to Ukraine.

Today war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed during Russia’s war against Ukraine are being investigated by Ukraine and a number of other states, as well as by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The referral of the situation in Ukraine made by 43 States and the previously given Ukraine’s consent to the ICC’s jurisdiction over all crimes committed during the armed conflict since 2014 provide a solid basis for the work of the ICC.

While international criminal justice has important achievements in addressing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, progress concerning the crime of aggression – or crimes against peace as it was labelled during the Nuremberg Tribunal, has been very limited. Unlike for other core international crimes, the ICC faces objective difficulties in exercising jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.

Now the time has come to complete the architecture of international criminal justice initiated by the 1942 London Declaration. We need to fill the gap and establish a Special tribunal which would have a specific jurisdiction over the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The war of aggression Russia is waging against Ukraine is the biggest war of aggression in Europe since 1945 and the legal response to it shall be appropriate and resemble the response which the international community found to bring perpetrators to responsibility after World War II. 

Establishment of a Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is necessary, as currently there is no international court or tribunal that could try Russia’s top political and military leadership for committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The creation of a Special Tribunal will close this gap.

Ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is an integral part of full comprehensive accountability for violations of international law committed during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Establishment of the Special tribunal is an appropriate way to ensure accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Ensuring accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is an integral part of the Peace Formula of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine has already been supported by the European Parliament, Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe, NATO and OSCE, national parliaments, international and national bar associations. The need to establish a tribunal which will ensure accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine was also underlined in the European Council Conclusions, Decisions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Reykjavik Declaration of the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe.

We strongly welcome start of operations of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague and consider it to be an important step on the way towards establishment of the Special tribunal.

We call on the international community to unite efforts and work closely and together with Ukraine on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The Special Tribunal shall be a legitimate and credible justice mechanism that will be able to effectively do its job – bring to accountability representatives of the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The establishment of the Special tribunal shall be a response of the international community to blatant and flagrant violation of the UN Charter, in particular of the principle of non-use of force or threat of force by the Russian Federation. Establishment of the Special tribunal shall also play an important role in preventing future possible aggressions, as possible aggressors will see that the acts of aggression get relevant legal response. Crime of aggression committed by Russian political and military leadership against Ukraine shall not remain without an appropriate legal response. Thus we call on the international community to work actively and effectively to establish a Special tribunal in order to ensure accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Photo: Special Tribunal for the Crime of aggression against Ukraine Conferance

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