PACE Calls for the Creation of an International Ad Hoc Criminal Tribunal for the Crimes Committed Against Ukraine

PACE Calls for the Creation of an International Ad Hoc Criminal Tribunal for the Crimes Committed Against Ukraine
Photo by manhhai on Flickr

29-04-2022

Manon Picard

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 28th of April 2022, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on all the Member States of the Council of Europe to create and set up an ad hoc international criminal tribunal to hold accountable perpetrators committing crimes of aggression against Ukraine. More specifically, the mandate of the ad hoc tribunal would be to “investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression allegedly committed by the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation”. 

This ad hoc tribunal should be established in Strasbourg, France, due to the possible links with the European Court of Human Rights. The ad hoc tribunal would apply customary international law particularly regarding its definition of the crime of aggression. Moreover, PACE discussed the powers that would be granted to the ad hoc tribunal and stated that it should have the “power to issue international arrest warrants and not be limited by State immunity or the immunity of heads of State and government and other State officials”. 

The resolution was adopted unanimously by PACE following the widespread evidence of the Russian Federation targeting civilians and using torture and rape as weapons of war, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international criminal law. The Assembly stated that Member States of the Council of Europe should cooperate with the International Criminal Court, but also rely on universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the crimes committed against Ukraine. 

The resolution adopted by the Assembly sends a clear message to the international community, “namely that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and possible genocide, will be held to account”. 

Sources and further reading:

Council of Europe. (2022, April 28). PACE Calls for an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal to Hold to Account Perpetrators of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Newsroom – Council of Europe. Retrieved on April 29, 2022, from https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/pace-calls-for-an-ad-hoc-international-criminal-tribunal-to-investigate-war-crimes-in-ukraine

Parliamentary Assembly. (2022, April 28). PACE Calls for the Setting up of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal to Hold to Account Perpetrators of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Council of Europe – Session. Retrieved on April 29, 2022, from https://pace.coe.int/en/news/8699/pace-calls-for-the-setting-up-of-an-ad-hoc-international-criminal-tribunal-to-hold-to-account-perpetrators-of-the-crime-of-aggression-against-ukraine