Ukraine and Council of Europe sign agreement to establish special tribunal on Russia’s crime of aggression
On Wednesday, 25 June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed an agreement to establish a Special Tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing European Pravda and the Council of Europe's live broadcast.
The agreement to establish the Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression was signed at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg during Zelenskyy’s first visit to the organization.
The future tribunal will be able to investigate top state leadership, which is normally protected by personal immunity. However, verdicts can only be issued once those individuals are no longer in office.
It is also foreseen that the tribunal will be able to issue rulings in absentia, including against the political and military leadership of Russia and potentially of Belarus and North Korea.
The tribunal will have international legal personality, rather than the status of a hybrid or national structure.
"For the first time, a special international tribunal is being established to prosecute the crime of aggression. This tribunal, created within the framework of the Council of Europe, will hold accountable those who used force in violation of the UN Charter, applying international law without double standards and reaffirming that Europe’s security is not based on silence or impunity, but on law, principles, and action," said Alain Berset.
Earlier, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Andrii Sybiha stated that Ukraine was preparing to sign an agreement with the Council of Europe to establish a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine.
