Article | Universal Jurisdiction Over International Crimes, Committed in Ukraine |
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Authors | ANNA PRYKHODKO |
Name of magazine | Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version) |
Issue | 2 / 2024 |
Pages | 39 - 50 |
Annotation | The current challenges of the legal response to international crimes committed during large-scale Russian aggression have exacerbated the issue of the application of universal jurisdiction mechanisms in the global legal dimension and in the context of the domestic legal system and aspects of comparative jurisprudence. The investigation of relevant crimes in the national criminal jurisdiction of third countries, which was announced by the authorities of Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, France, Sweden and others during the last two years, is of particular relevance in a situation, where there is still no information in open sources in Ukraine about systematic court decisions in proceedings related to aggression, ecocide and genocide, and there is an accumulation of decisions on war crimes in accordance with Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding violations of the laws and customs of war.In addition, the existing proceedings at the International Criminal Court will probably not cover all persons, who have committed relevant international crimes, and currently there is still a doctrinal and political discussion regarding the formation of a special supranational or “internationalized” tribunal for the crime of aggression. The January decision of the International Court of Justice in the case “Ukraine v. Russia” regarding the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (in the occupied Crimea) and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (regarding hostilities in the East of Ukraine) on the events that preceded the large-scale Russian invasion, shows that not all aspects of the aggressor’s responsibility can be resolved at the appropriate interstate level. The article outlines the reflection of the category of universal jurisdiction in international law and in the modern practice of European countries, primarily in relation to cases in Ukraine, committed by persons, controlled by the Russian Federation. The author emphasizes that this practice becomes a powerful tool both for the development of the phenomenon of universal jurisdiction at the global level and for ensuring justice in the punishment of Russian criminals. The main challenges in this area are outlined, which consist in the need to increase the efficiency of interstate cooperation and promote the inevitability of punishment in accordance with the conventional obligations of civilized countries of the world. |
Keywords | aggression; ecocide; genocide; international crimes; universal jurisdiction; war crimes |
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