Abstract
The paper focuses on the most serious crimes, especially crimes against humanity and war crimes, which we have seen in recent weeks and months in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In view of the fact that news of the crimes being committed - leaving aside their objective veracity for the moment - can be followed almost in real time in the age of social networks and live news coverage, the professional and lay public are increasingly asking how potential perpetrators will be punished for their actions, which fulfil the characteristics of one or more crimes. In this context, the competence of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which was established in 2002 by the so-called Rome Statute, is discussed quite frequently. The ICC's subject matter jurisdiction extends only to the most socially serious acts, which are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
Historically, in the context of some major regional conflicts, we have seen the establishment of special ad hoc tribunals to deal with selected criminally relevant acts. Examples include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
The paper aims to answer the question whether, in the case of the conflict triggered by the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the International Criminal Court is competent to assess the situation, or whether an ad hoc criminal tribunal would be more appropriate for this purpose. In particular, the paper should focus on the differences in the functioning of the two bodies and their jurisdiction in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
The structure of the paper is as follows: (1) an introductory introduction to the International Criminal Court and the system of ad hoc tribunals, their subject matter, personal and temporal and local jurisdiction, organization of work and characteristic limits, (2) the specifics of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and an analysis of the relevant case law, (3) a conclusion and answer to the questions raised, and a brief description of the role of national law enforcement agencies.
The paper is based, firstly, on the relevant legislation (in particular the Rome Statute) and the existing decision-making practice of the bodies described above, and secondly, on the related literature with a focus on international criminal law. Attention is also paid to selected lay-oriented articles, interviews or podcasts dealing with the issue.