New commission investigates Russia's crimes of aggression against Ukraine
Can Russia be prosecuted for war crimes against Ukraine? The International Criminal Court does not have this jurisdiction. To fill this void in jurisdiction, a new commission has been created: an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression, the ICPA.
The ICPA will investigate Russia's war crimes against Ukraine. For this, it will gather evidence ‘in the run-up to the establishment of a special tribunal to try Kremlin officials for starting the war in Ukraine’ (see BNR).
Professor Public International Law Larissa van den Herik says aggression is 'a very serious crime' (BNR). 'It’s about the decision of Putin and his companions to attack Ukraine, it focusses specifically on that decision to start that invasion.'
The ICPA will not only deal with Ukraine's charges against Russia, although this will be their first and main task in the coming period. They will secure and analyse evidence. The intention is for the commission to also start preparing future cases. The ICPA is based in The Hague.
More information
You can read the article and listen to the audio clip (in Dutch) on the BNR website.
Image by Yohan Marion via Unsplash.