Toward Justice for Ukraine: Designing a Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has revealed a critical gap in international criminal justice: the absence of a forum to prosecute the crime of aggression. While the International Criminal Court and domestic courts address war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, structural limits prevent these judicial institutions from prosecuting aggression against Ukraine. This article examines the legal and political foundations for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. It traces the accountability debate and proposals developed for addressing the crime of aggression focusing on four institutional models. These are the treaty-based model, UN General Assembly mandated, hybrid or institutionalized domestic, and Council of Europe led. It explains why the Council of Europe framework emerged as the most viable. The article highlights the tribunal’s composition, approach for in absentia proceedings, jurisdictional scope, addressing head of state immunity, and its complementarity with the ICC.
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 and Policy Group. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
Sindija Beta is a Legal Officer at PILPG, where she works on transitional justice projects for The Gambia and Ukraine. Previously, she was deeply involved with international human rights and criminal law matters related to the Rohingya crisis. She holds an LLB in Law and Diplomacy from the Riga Graduate School of Law and an LLM in Law and Politics of International Security from Vrije University Amsterdam.