TheCable

A group of international law experts, politicians and academics have called for the establishment of a special tribunal to probe crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russia against Ukraine.

According to a statement issued by the experts, the tribunal will complement the efforts of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Ukraine has submitted a petition against Russia.

The experts said the tribunal is necessary following Russia’s attack on Ukraine which has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, thousands of injuries, and over a million people fleeing to neighbouring nations.

“President Putin’s decision to launch attacks on Ukraine poses a grave challenge to the post-1945 international order. He has sought to replace the rule of law and principles of self-determination for all peoples by the use of force,” the statement reads.

“The whole world needs to be made aware of the act of aggression he has instigated and the atrocities he has ordered.”

While noting that sanctions and financial restrictions alone won’t work, they said beyond the options of the ICC, ICJ and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg, there can be the option of a special tribunal as well.

“To complement the actions now underway before the ICC, ICJ and ECtHR, we propose the creation of a special tribunal with a limited focus on the crime of aggression, which cannot be addressed by the three other courts,” the statement reads.

“The Special Tribunal for the Punishment of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine can be set up with speed.

“Countries should agree to grant jurisdiction arising under national criminal codes and general international law to a dedicated criminal tribunal, and confer on such a tribunal jurisdiction to investigate both the perpetrators of the crime of aggression and those who have materially contributed to or shaped the commission of that crime.”

The experts said the special tribunal, when established, should “investigate and prosecute individuals who have committed the crime of aggression in respect of the territory of Ukraine, including those who have materially influenced or shaped the commission of that crime”.

Signatories to the statement were listed as: “Rt. Hon Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Professor Dapo Akande, Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford, Member of the UN International Law Commission (2023-2027); Mykola Gnatovskyy, Professor of International Law, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, former President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (2015–2021); and Murray Hunt, Director, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, Visiting Professor in Human Rights Law,
University of Oxford”.

Other were “Professor Philip Leach, Professor of Human Rights Law, Middlesex University; Professor Philippe Sands QC, Professor, University College London, Barrister Matrix Chambers; Paul Auster, New York, Writer; Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, University of Geneva; Sir Nicolas Bratza, former President of the European Court of Human Rights; Professor Olga Butkevych, President of the Ukrainian Association of International
Law; and Professor Volodymyr Butkevych, former judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

Also listed as signing the statement were: “Javier Cercas, Barcelona, Writer; Benjamin Ferencz, former Prosecutor Nuremberg Military Tribunal; Don Ferencz, former Chair of the Global Institute for the Prevention of the Crime of Aggression; Hon Yves Fortier QC, Montreal; Stephen Fry, London, Writer; Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford; Richard Goldstone, former Chief Prosecutor International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and former Judge Constitutional Court of South Africa; Siri Hustvedt, New York, Writer; Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, London; Professor Catherine Kessedjian, Paris; Patrick Lawrence QC, London, barrister; Professor Margaret Macmillan, Toronto & Oxford; Professor Virginia Mantouvalou, UCL; and Professor Aline Miron, Anger University.

Others included: “Howard Morrison, former ICC judge; Professor Egbert Myjer, former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (elected in respect of the Netherlands) (2004-2012); Professor Dr. Angelika Nußberger, Professor of Law, University of Cologne; former Vice-President, European Court of Human Rights (2017-2019); Michael O’Boyle, former Registrar, European Court of Human Rights (2006-2015); Sir Shridath Ramphal QC, Guyana Paul Reichler, Washington DC; Professor Helene Ruiz Fabri, Director, Max Planck Institute Luxembourg; Professor Yuval Shany, Hebrew University Jerusalem; Anjolie Singh, Delhi; Professor Christian Tams, Germany; Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin, Secretary General of the Hague Academy of
International Law, Professor, University of Paris-Nanterre; Professor Kimberley Trapp, University College London; and Professor Farhana Yamin, University of Arts, London”.