An international conference 'Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Justice to be served ' was held in Kyiv on August 21, 2023. Over 40 speakers participated in the conference, which was under the patronage of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
The conference was opened by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
The speakers were prominent international lawyers, diplomats, and politicians. The conference called for the completion of the architecture of international criminal justice initiated by the 1942 London Declaration by establishing a Special Tribunal which would have a specific jurisdiction over the crime of aggression against Ukraine
The conference resulted in the following communiqué.
Communiqué
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 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 which 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. Establishment of the Special tribunal shall be a response of 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 appropriate legal response. Thus we call on international community to work actively and effectively to establish a Special tribunal in order to ensure accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Speakers
Abraham, Aarif. Barrister, writer and speaker specialising in public international law, international criminal law and human rights;
Baryshnikov, Max. Partner at BKB Attorneys at law, Co-founder of the initiative group of the Civic Hub “Kick russia out of the UN”
Blazhivska, Oksana. Member of the High Council of Justice;
Burlakov, Sergiy. Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine;
Corell, Hans. Ambassador (Ret.), Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the UN;
Cotler, Irwin. Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, an Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and longtime Member of Parliament, and an international human rights lawyer;
Cottier, Damien. Member of the National Council of Switzerland, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Chair of Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. Rapporteur on the PACE Report on Legal and Human Rights consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine;
Crane, David. American lawyer, former Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL);
Ellis, Mark S. Executive Director of International Bar Association.
Fiumara, Franco Marcelo. Lawyer, Criminal Court Judge of the 4th Judicial Department of La Matanza, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. PhD in Political Sciences, Legal Sciences, Criminal Procedure Professor in the Law School of La Matanza University.
Goldstone, Richard. South African former judge. First Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda;
Grigaitė-Daugirdė, Gabija. Vice-Minister of Justice of Lithuania;
Hobe, Stephan. Professor, Director of the Institute of Air Law, Space law and Cyber Law as well as Co-Director of the International Investment Law Centre Cologne;
Hoffmeister, Frank. Director for General Affairs and the Chief Legal Officer at European External Action Services (EEAS) and Professor of International Economic Law in the LLM in International and European Law programme of the Brussels School of Governance;
Horodyskyy, Ivan. Vice President of the Ukrainian Bar Association, Director of Dnistrianskyi Center
Jordash,Wayne. President of Global Rights Compliance, lead of the Mobile Justice Teams supporting Ukrainian OPG. Deputy of ACA;
Kachura, Oleksandr. Ukrainian MP, Co-Head of the inter-factional association "Tribunal for Russian Aggressors", member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Zanda. Latvian MP, part of a Committee of Foreign Affairs and a Committee of European Affairs. Head of Latvian delegation of the PACE;
Khomenko, Olena. Ukrainian MP, PACE Vice-President, member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
Kiesewetter, Roderich. Member of the German Bundestag, Spokesperson for crisis prevention, Foreign Policy Representative;
Korniyenko, Oleksandr. the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
Korynevych, Anton. Ambassador-at-large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Kravchenko, Stanislav. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court;
Kress, Claus. Professor of International Law and Criminal Law. Chair for German and International Criminal Law and he is the Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law at the University of Cologne;
Kubilius, Andrius. Member of European Parliament, Chair of Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, Member of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Member of Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, Former Prime Minister of Lithuania;
Levits, Egils. Latvian politician, lawyer, political scientist and jurist who served as the tenth president of Latvia;
Maliuska, Denys. Minister of Justice of Ukraine.
Maraiev, Vladlen. Ukrainian historian, PhD in History, Co-author of the YouTube channel “History Without Myths”.
Maslov, Denys. Ukrainian MP, Head of Verkhovna Rada Legal Policy Committee, member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
Matviychuk, Oleksandra. Head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2022, member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
McDougall, Carrie. Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne;
Mezentseva, Maria. Ukrainian MP, Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
Mudra, Iryna. Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine.
Nice, Geoffrey. British barrister. Lead prosecutor for the UN in trial of Slobodan Milošević's. Chair China Tribunal; Chair Uyghur Tribunal;
Philip-Gay, Mathilde. Professor of public law at Université Jean Moulin Lyon;
Polakiewicz, Jörg. Director of Legal Advice and Public International Law, Council of Europe;
Salikhov, Vitaliy. Member of the High Council of Justice of Ukraine;
Sands, Philippe. British and French writer and lawyer at 11 King's Bench Walk and Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London;
Scheffer, David. American lawyer and diplomat who served as the first United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues;
Smyrnov, Andrii. Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Stefanishyna, Olha. Deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration;
Tammsaar, Rein. Permanent Representative of the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations.
Trahan, Jennifer. Clinical Professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs and Director of their Concentration in International Law and Human Rights.
Zaburanna, Lesia. Ukrainian MP, member of the working group on the establishment of the Special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
Zingeris, Emanuelis. Lithuanian MP, Head of Lithuanian delegation to PACE, Rapporteur of the PACE two resolutions and rapports of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Vice president of European affaires Committee of Seimas;
Zolotaryova, Oksana. Director of the Department of International Law, MFA of Ukraine.
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