To establish or not to establish? Special Tribunal for Ukraine and the prosecution of crimes under international law
Abstract
The paper discusses the proposal to establish a special tribunal for Ukraine, which was put forward by some academics and supported by certain states, including Ukraine itself. The tribunal should be established by an international treaty of several states and should prosecute the perpetrators of the crime of aggression, including the highest representatives of the Russian Federation.
The paper draws attention to the legal problems that the Tribunal would face, such as the absence of an obligation of third states to cooperate with it or the impossibility of ignoring the personal immunities of the so-called Big Three (President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister). In view of these problems and of the uncertainty about the level of support that the Tribunal would receive from the international community, there is a risk that the establishment of the tribunal would be merely a symbolic act.
The reflection on the proposal to establish the tribunal is preceded by an overview of the current development of the prosecution of so-called crimes under international law and an assessment of whether these crimes are committed in the conflict in Ukraine and which authorities are already dealing with them.