Never Stop Chasing Russian War Leaders

The establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine

Image: The Hill

We will not stop until Russia is held fully accountable, and justice is done. Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, 4 February 2025

In the past 24 hours, senior legal experts from the European Commission, the Council of Europe, Ukraine and 37 nations agreed to the legal foundations for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. This was the 13th meeting of the international Core Group of senior legal experts convened in 2023 to examine the issue of a special tribunal to address international crimes outside the mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC is unable to exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression unless both the victim and the aggressor state have ratified and accepted the Court’s jurisdiction over that crime – and this would be subject to a Russian veto.

Thus, a separate tribunal is required.

For those seeking more background on the tribunal, this excellent briefing paper prepared by the British House of Commons Library examines many of the issues related to the establishment and jurisdiction of such a body. But in short, once it is established and operational, the new Tribunal will have the power to hold to account Russian political and military leaders, who bear the greatest responsibility for the crime of aggression.

It is an important step forward because the international community needs a mechanism to hold accountable those responsible not only for committing war crimes, but those whose actions set the conditions for the war crimes to be committed, and whose actions allow them to continue. And the number of war crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine continues to grow.