The EU Saturday agreed to establish a new tribunal to prosecute Russian crimes of aggression committed during the war in Ukraine. The tribunal, the International Center for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA), is designed to fill in any gaps in prosecution from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
EU President Ursula von der Leyen announced the tribunal, saying, “The European Union is supportive of the role of the International Criminal Court. We also believe that there needs to be a dedicated tribunal to prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression.”
As it stands now, Russia has rejected the jurisdiction of the ICC, meaning they will likely not subject themselves to any prosecution brought in the ICC. The ICPA is designed to fill that gap by providing a forum for the prosecution of Russian crimes of aggression such as torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence and summary executions.
The ICPA will be housed in the Hague within a joint investigative team, which was established in 2022. The team consists of Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust). The investigative team agreed Saturday to amend their initial agreement to create the ICPA.
EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders applauded the tribunal, saying:
I am very pleased that today the #JointInvestigationTeam agreement has been amended.
It paves the way for the establishment in the Hague of the international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression against #Ukraine. @TheJusticeDept @Eurojust @CourPenaleInt pic.twitter.com/uEWYhqNBXc
— Didier Reynders (@dreynders) March 4, 2023
The announcement came during the “United for Justice” conference in Ukraine. International leaders from European countries as well as the US gathered to discuss the issue of war crimes committed in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Leaders are examining methods for the eventual prosecution of these war crimes in both national and international bodies.
