A special court will judge Putin for the "aggression crimes" against Ukraine

A special court will judge Putin for the “aggression crimes” against Ukraine

A coalition of 38 countries, including all members of the European Union, is working to establish a special court that judges Russia for the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine, thus recognizing the responsibility of President Vladimir Putin and his own high officials for the large -scale invasion that began in February 2022 “draft Statute Schuman”, the fundamental legal text that will regulate the functioning of the special court. Once operating, the Court will have the power to call the Russian political and military leaders to answer for the crime of aggression.

Putin pursued for aggression crimes

The Court will pursue Russia’s political and military leaders, including Putin, and will be established within the Council of Europe, an organization for human rights that is not part of the institutions of the European Union. Putin and Russian military leaders will be pursued for the crime of aggression, which implies actions such as invasions or annexes, affects those who hold control of the attacker. By aggression we mean an invasion, a occupation, an annexation, a block of ports or any other action that implies the use of weapons by one state against another.

However, it is not an immediate process. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, said that the institution will be “ready to act” once the mandate is approved on a political level among the 27 member countries. The creation of the ad hoc court could be completed within the year, with the aim of acting rapidly to avoid the impunity of the Kremlin leader.

“Once the special court is operational, the Ukrainian authorities will be able to transfer the investigations and national criminal actions in progress relating to the crime of aggression to the special court prosecutor. And in this process, Ukraine will also send relevant evidence At the Court, including the information collected by the International Center for the Pros of the Crime of Aggression, “said Michael McGrath, European commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and the protection of consumers.

The node represented by the International Criminal Court

The establishment of this court would fill the serious gap existing in the current institutional structure of international criminal justice as well as integrating the investigative efforts of the International Criminal Court, which currently cannot investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The idea of ​​a court with this mandate, strongly supported by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, therefore aims to recognize Putin’s responsibility for the Russian invasion. This is because according to international law, the heads of state enjoy judicial immunity, and a trial in default could be considered illegitimate. The knot has intricate for the limits of the international criminal court which certainly has jurisdiction on the crimes of aggression, but only for the countries signatory of the Rome Statute. Since Russia, the United States and China have not ratified it, the leaders of these countries cannot be judged by this court. The creation of the court had blocked for the question of immunity for the Russian leader, but now it seems close to materializing.

The high representative for EU foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, underlined the importance of pursuing this crime, declaring that no one in the Russian leadership is untouchable. In the meantime, the European Commission has recommended to the EU Council to start negotiations to create a commission for international complaints for Ukraine. The Commission will have the task of examining, evaluating and deciding on the admissible complaints regarding the damages caused by the war, establishing the amounts of the compensation to be paid for each specific case.