A New Step Towards Justice: Special Tribunal for Ukraine

On Wednesday, June 25, an agreement was signed in Kyiv between Ukraine and the Council of Europe to establish a Special Tribunal aimed at investigating crimes of aggression against our country.

During the signing ceremony, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated alongside Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, "Justice takes time, but it must be achieved."

Just a month earlier, the European Union expressed its support for the establishment of the tribunal in Lviv.

But what constitutes a crime of aggression? What is the role of the Special Tribunal? How does it differ from the International Criminal Court (ICC)?

Here are eight key points to understand about what the tribunal can and cannot do.

What is a crime of aggression?

The ICC defines a crime of aggression as "the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or independence of another state."

This means that the leadership of the state that initiated the invasion can be prosecuted.

This crime is one of four core offenses defined by the Rome Statute: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes (serious violations of the Geneva Conventions), and finally, the crime of aggression.