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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to sign an agreement with the Council of Europe on Wednesday to set up a special tribunal that would prosecute senior Russian officials directly responsible for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has said that setting up a dedicated court for the crime of aggression was crucial to holding Russia’s leadership to account for the invasion that started in February 2022. The creation of the special tribunal comes as peace efforts between the two countries have stalled owing to Vladimir Putin’s maximalist demands and intention to continue his war.
“Everyone will be held accountable, including president, prime minister, foreign minister and other high level officials,” Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna told the Financial Times. “It’s critical in order to restore the international rule of law and prevent future acts of aggression.”
Zelenskyy will sign the agreement with Alain Berset, who chairs the Strasbourg-based human rights body that excluded Russia from its member countries after it invaded Ukraine. This would be the first special tribunal set up by CoE. It would work independently of the European Court of Human Rights, which is also part of the CoE, where citizens can sue their governments over human rights violations.
“Justice for Ukraine will not wait,” Berset said ahead of the signing ceremony. “This tribunal will hold to account those who have used force in violation of the UN Charter.”
The International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, has already issued arrest warrants for Putin and other Russian officials on war crime charges such as the alleged abduction of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children.
But the ICC does not have jurisdiction for the crime of aggression, which refers to the use of armed force by one state against another — and specifically targets the leadership responsible for it.
The ICC focuses on investigating crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. In addition to Putin and his special commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, the ICC also issued arrest warrants for Viktor Sokolov, the former commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and Sergei Kobylash, commander of Russia’s long-range aviation, on charges relating to the campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Setting up the special tribunal with CoE will allow the prosecution of officials controlling Russia’s military machine who planned and executed the full-scale invasion. The agreement states that the court will “investigate, prosecute and try persons who bear the greatest responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine”.
“It’s accountability regardless of position,” said Stefanishyna. She added that the statute of the court also allows for “conducting proceedings if the accused is absent”, which would get around countries being unwilling to extradite the indicted.
The CoE said that the special tribunal would be able to open cases against acting presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers — but only issue arrest warrants and start trial proceedings once they’re no longer in office.
A dedicated registry of damage had collected more than 34,000 entries that could be used for prosecution, including instances of death, torture or sexual violence, destruction of buildings and infrastructure, or displacement.
After the signing, Ukraine will implement the necessary legal and administrative changes to set up the court in a country yet to be determined.
