Foreign ministers from Ukraine, the UK, and several European states on Friday announced their support for the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. 

The countries include at least 37 states in addition to Ukraine. These states will have the power to hold accountable Russian political and military leaders, deriving their jurisdiction from that of Ukraine. The establishment of the tribunal will be supported by the creation of an International Claims Commission for Ukraine and a corresponding Register of Damage, creating a process for reviewing, assessing, and deciding eligible claims from victims of war. The register will act as a record of damages, including human casualties and material losses, as a result of Russian aggression, and it will facilitate compensation to victims.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said:

As we celebrate Europe Day, we move closer to justice for the people of Ukraine. We stand fully behind the Special Tribunal, to hold to account those responsible for the heinous crime of aggression against Ukraine. The people of Ukraine deserve justice, and we will do everything in our power to make sure they get it.

The special tribunal will be established as part of the Council of Europe’s institutional framework and is designed to complement the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s role in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes. The Rome Statute, which outlines the jurisdiction for the ICC, also sets out the court’s power to prosecute for crimes of aggression under Article 8. According to the amendment, crimes of aggression are defined as “[t]he planning, preparation, initiation or execution, by a person in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or military action of a State, of an act of aggression which, by its character, gravity and scale, constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations.”

While Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine could constitute grave breaches under this rule, it is notable that many states parties to the Rome Statute, like Russia, have not consented to the amendment and thus the ICC’s jurisdiction for such crimes. While aggression is well-accepted as a crime under customary international law, the definition adopted through Article 8 is not universally accepted as a pure reflection of customary international law.