On November 7, experts of our Association, Associate Professor Andrii Chvaliuk and Professor Borys Babin, took part in the round table of the Mariupol State University “New opportunities and prospects for bringing to justice representatives of the Russian Federation after Ukraine’s ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and amendments to it.”
In anticipation of its holding, the heads of the Institute of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and the Mariupol State University secured cooperation on paper to combine efforts in the educational and scientific sphere.
In the published report of the ARC experts, dedicated to the personnel challenges in the activities of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it is indicated that by ratifying the Rome Statute and amendments to it, Ukraine recognized full jurisdiction to investigate and bring to justice persons suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide on the territory of Ukraine.
In addition to the ability to initiate official requests to the ICC regarding the investigation of specific war crimes committed during Russian aggression, the Ukrainian government now has, among other things, the ability to submit candidates for the formation of the leadership of the main bodies of the ICC, including the aforementioned Office of the Prosecutor.
At the same time, in their report, the ARC experts recalled that on November 14, 2016, the ICC recognized the attempted annexation of Crimea as equivalent to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia that arose no later than February 26, 2014.
The report adds that our state has every opportunity to actively participate in the formation of the leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, if we approach this issue responsibly.
