Ukrainian Parliament Appeals to UN, EU and Council of Europe with Call to Create Special Tribunal for Russia

Friday, 7 October 2022

The Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian Parliament - ed.] adopted a resolution appealing to the UN, the parliaments and governments of its member states, the European Union, and the Council of Europe to create a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Ukrinform quotes Yaroslav Zhelezniak, member of the Ukrainian Parliament. 

The resolution was supported by 283 deputies.

"The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine calls on the international community of nations to use all possible and available tools and opportunities to put pressure on the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation, as so doing will much sooner force the Russian Federation to abandon the continuation of armed aggression against Ukraine, as well as to use the provisions on universal jurisdiction, within the limits of its criminal legislation, to bring to justice persons guilty of committing the most serious international crimes on the territory of Ukraine," the appeal reads.

The Parliament also calls on the United Nations, the parliaments and governments of its member states, the European Union, and the Council of Europe to establish a special international tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which will:

  • have jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of the crime of aggression against Ukraine, allegedly committed by the highest political and military leadership of the Russian Federation;
  • apply the definition of the crime of aggression enshrined in international law in Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC;
  • have jurisdiction over individuals who exercise effective control over or direct the political or military actions of the state;
  • have the authority to issue international arrest warrants and not be limited by the absolute and/or functional immunity of heads of state and government and other state officials;
  • have jurisdiction over all events starting in February 2014, the beginning of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

In addition, the Verkhovna Rada calls on the UN, the parliaments and governments of its member states, the EU, and the Council of Europe to intensify their efforts to provide full support for the establishment of such a special international tribunal by adopting the relevant legal acts, ensuring participation in its work, cooperating fully with the future special international tribunal, and allocating the maximum possible human and financial resources to its activities.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his address to the summit of the European Political Community in Prague, called for the implementation of the "peace formula" he has proposed for Ukraine.

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