Delivering Justice for Russia's Brutal War of Aggression: Lessons in Lawfare – PILPG Journal of Frontline Scholarship

Delivering Justice for Russia's Brutal War of Aggression: Lessons in Lawfare

Vol. 1, No. 2 · October 2025 · Accountability · International Criminal Law
Abstract

This paper surveys the unprecedented range of justice initiatives mobilized in response to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, illustrating how law can be wielded as a strategic instrument of resistance and accountability. It traces the evolution of international, regional, and domestic efforts to document, investigate, and prosecute atrocity crimes, from the activation of existing mechanisms, the ICC, the ICJ, and the European Court of Human Rights, to the design of new institutions such as the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Drawing on Ukraine's engagement with these mechanisms and the contributions of its allies, the analysis highlights how the pursuit of justice in Ukraine has advanced the field of atrocity accountability and reinvigorated the post–World War II legal order. The paper also considers the limits of this response, including enduring challenges of enforcement, political will, and selective justice, while underscoring the enduring importance of maintaining a principled commitment to the rule of law amid war.

Recommended Citation Beth Van Schaack, Delivering Justice for Russia's Brutal War of Aggression: Lessons in Lawfare, PILPG Journal of Frontline Scholarship vol. 1, pp. 16–34 (October 2025). https://doi.org/10.66193/01.02
About the Author
Ambassador Beth Van Schaack

Dr. Beth Van Schaack is a PILPG Senior and Peace Fellow and former Ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) from 2022 to 2025. Earlier, Ambassador Van Schaack was the Leah Kaplan Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Stanford Law School and directed Stanford's International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic. Before Stanford, Ambassador Van Schaack taught at the Santa Clara University School of Law. During this time, she was also a member of the US Department of State's Advisory Council on International Law and served as the Academic Adviser to the US interagency delegation to the International Criminal Court Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Ambassador Van Schaack has published numerous articles and papers on international human rights and justice issues, including her 2020 thesis: Imagining Justice for Syria (Oxford University Press). Ambassador Van Schaack is a Distinguished Fellow at Stanford's Center for Human Rights and International Justice.

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