Expert Roundtable:

Putin: Pathways to Prosecution

Event Recordings in Ukrainian and English

Ukrainian

English

Event Description

PILPG hosted a conversation with experts regarding the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin for atrocity crimes committed during Russia’s war in Ukraine on June 3 from 12 to 1 pm EDT.

On February 24, 2022, President Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine, which is a new phase of Russian aggression against Ukraine that started in February 2014. This full scale invasion has led to thousands of civilian deaths particularly in the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions of Ukraine. Russian armed forces have been accused of committing atrocity crimes by carrying out attacks on civilian targets and committing rape, torture, and summary killings against civilians. Some states such as the UK and US have joined Ukraine in accusing Russia of committing acts of genocide. On February 28, 2022 the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into atrocities committed in Ukraine and on May 12, 2022 the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution to set up an investigation into possible atrocity crimes committed by Russian troops.

During this event, our distinguished panel of former international prosecutors and diplomats discussed recent developments in Putin’s war in Ukraine, evaluated legal bases for Vladimir Putin’s possible indictment for atrocity crimes, and explored the implications of such an indictment on future peace negotiations. This event was moderated by PILPG President Dr. Paul Williams.

This event is part of the PILPG Thought Leadership Initiative. The Initiative focuses on prominent international law and international affairs topics and organizes monthly expert roundtables to share expertise and reflections from our work on peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and war crimes prosecution.

This expert roundtable is part of our Ukraine Series, a series which aims to discuss recent developments in the Ukraine-Russia war, ponder complex legal questions related to those developments, and inform audiences of important international legal principles. As part of this series, PILPG holds expert roundtables every other Friday from 12-1 pm Eastern Time.

Speakers

**Professor David Crane**
David Crane is a Professor at the Syracuse University College of Law and was the founding Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2002 to 2005. With the rank of Undersecretary General, Dr. Crane’s mandate was to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international human rights committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone during the 1990’s. Among those he indicted was the President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, the first sitting African head of state to be held accountable. Prior to this position, he served over 30 years in the Senior Executive Service of the United States government. Dr. Crane teaches international criminal law, international law, international humanitarian law, and national security law. He speaks around the world and publishes extensively on international humanitarian law and founded the Global Accountability Network in 2017. Dr. Crane holds a *J.D.* from Syracuse University, a *M.A.* in African Studies and a *B.G.S.* in History from Ohio University.

**Dr. Anton Korynevych**
Dr. Anton Korynevych is a Ukrainian lawyer specializing in public international law, international humanitarian, and international criminal law. Since 25 May 2022, Dr. Korynevych serves as Ambassador-at-large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Dr. Korynevych holds the position of Associate Professor of the International Law Department of the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Dr. Korynevych is the Agent of Ukraine before the International Court of Justice in the Allegations of Genocide case (since 26 February 2022) and served as Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea between 25 June 2019 and 25 April 2022. Dr. Korynevych got his Ph.D. in international law in 2011 in Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

**Professor Rebecca Hamilton**
Professor Rebecca Hamilton is an Associate Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, where her research and teaching focus on national security law, international law, and criminal law. She is an internationally recognized expert on atrocity prevention, and her scholarship draws on her experience in the prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, as well as her work in conflict zones as a foreign correspondent.
Previously, Professor Hamilton served as a lawyer in the prosecutorial division of the International Criminal Court, working on cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda and Sudan. Hamilton has also worked in the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and has been the Deputy Director of the Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law. Prior to entering academia she worked as a journalist for the Washington Post and Reuters.
As a Council on Foreign Relations fellow, she recently served in the Office of Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict in the Department of Defense. She has also been a Pulitzer Center grantee, and the recipient of fellowships from New America and the Open Society Foundations. Professor Hamilton also serves on the Editorial Board of the national security law publication, Just Security.
Hamilton received her J.D from Harvard Law School and M.P.P from Harvard Kennedy School. A graduate of the University of Sydney, she was born in Aotearoa, NZ. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and four young children.

MODERATOR

Dr. Paul R. Williams holds the Rebecca I. Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and at the Washington College of Law. Dr. Williams is also the co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and the prosecution of war criminals. As a world renowned peace negotiation lawyer, Dr. Williams has assisted over two dozen parties in major international peace negotiations and has advised numerous parties on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. Several of Dr. Williams' pro bono government clients throughout the world joined together to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Williams has served as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as an Attorney-Adviser for European and Canadian affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Williams is a sought-after international law and policy expert. He is frequently interviewed by major print and broadcast media and regularly contributes op-eds to major newspapers. Dr. Williams has authored six books on various topics concerning international law, and has published over three dozen scholarly articles on topics of international law and policy. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on a number of occasions relating to specific peace processes, transitional justice, and self-determination. Dr. Williams is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and has served as a Counsellor on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. In 2010, Paul was awarded the American University School of International Service’s Scholar/Teacher of the Year, the School’s highest honor for faculty. In 2019, Paul was awarded the Cox International Law Center's Humanitarian Award for Advancing Global Justice. More information about Dr. Williams can be found at www.drpaulrwilliams.com.