Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Council of Europe for the first time to sign an agreement for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. While at the Council he also addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which he thanked for “real leadership” in its stand against Russian aggression against Ukraine. He hailed Europe’s commitment to justice.
The Special Tribunal will be set up within the framework of the Council of Europe with the mandate to prosecute senior leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. This crime refers to the decision to use armed force against another state, in violation of the UN Charter.
The Special Tribunal will be complementary to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Special Tribunal and the ICC are expected to conclude agreements on mutual cooperation.
The ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Ukraine. However, it currently lacks the legal authority to prosecute the crime of aggression in this case due to jurisdictional limitations for the crime of aggression. The crime of aggression is when a State’s leaders launch or plan a war. It is considered a “leadership crime,” meaning it concerns those in positions of power who made or facilitated the decision to go to war. The Special Tribunal will fill this gap.
The new Tribunal was signed by Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset and Mr Zelenskyy on behalf of the Ukrainian government.
“It will take strong political and legal co-operation to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice – including Putin. This is the path we must walk – all the way to real charges and real verdicts,” Mr Zelenskyy told the Parliamentary Assembly in his address.
“The aggressor must lose. We’re working on that. But justice matters too. It must work – so that war criminals have nowhere to hide, not in Europe, not anywhere. And in a way that sets a legal principle – NO rewards for aggression,” the Ukrainian President declared.
Welcoming Mr Zelenskyy to the Assembly chamber, the Parliamentary Assembly President Theodoros Rousopoulos cited the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, who wrote: We must suffer, suffer into truth. “This is the daily reality of Ukraine. For over 1,200 days and nights, the people of Ukraine have lived what I once called a thousand nightmares.”
“And among those nightmares, one stands out as the most dangerous: that the world might become accustomed to this war. That a full-scale invasion of a sovereign state becomes normalised. That war crimes become invisible. But this Assembly – this Council – was created to stand precisely against such moral erosion.”
In response to a question from a parliamentarian, Mr Zelenskyy stressed “this is a very strong instrument, and we need judicially, and I think, that this is really the first time that there is such strong judicial recognition of the crime of aggression, and that’s why this is a very important step.”
And he added “What do we need? We need not only words, and not only signatures. This is great, but this is a political win. But we need real, practical steps, and that is why we will need all the parliamentarians, all the participants here, all the countries, all our family – the European family – and I think, yes, to do it and to bring peace closer. This is one of the instruments that can help.”
Senior legal experts from a “core group” of around 40 states worked together with the Ukrainian authorities, the Council of Europe and the EU to draft the three legal instruments needed to establish the Tribunal.
The Special Tribunal will follow internationally and regionally recognised standards of due process and the rule of law – for instance, those of the European Convention on Human Rights – ensuring fair trials, defence rights and judicial independence.
The tribunal will reaffirm the fundamental principle that war must not be waged as a tool of state policy. It will uphold the global international law-based order, deter future acts of aggression by state leaders and strengthen mechanisms for accountability and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In short, it is an investment in global peace, justice and the credibility of international law.
