A New Chapter in the Quest for Justice: The Special Tribunal for Ukraine
On Wednesday, June 25, an agreement was signed in Kyiv between Ukraine and the Council of Europe to create a Special Tribunal for investigating crimes of aggression committed against the country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking at the signing ceremony alongside Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alan Berse, stated, "Justice takes time, but it must be achieved."
A month earlier, the European Union expressed its support for the establishment of this tribunal in Lviv.
But what exactly is a crime of aggression? What does the Special Tribunal entail? How does it differ from the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
Here are eight key points to understand about the tribunal's functions.
What is a crime of aggression?
The ICC defines a crime of aggression in its summary as "the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or independence of another state."
Thus, the leadership of the state that initiated the invasion is subject to prosecution.
This is one of the four primary crimes outlined in the Rome Statute: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes (serious violations of the Geneva Conventions), and finally, the crime of aggression.
