Ukraine, Council of Europe sign Russia tribunal agreement
Ukraine and the Council of Europe (CoE) signed an agreement establishing a special tribunal to investigate Russia’s crimes of aggression against Ukraine on June 25.
The announcement came during a live broadcast of a Council of Europe meeting in Strasbourg, France.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and CoE Secretary General Alain Berset signed the document. Zelensky arrived in Strasbourg hours before the ceremony, traveling from the NATO summit in The Hague.
Berset made a brief statement during the signing, saying that Europe’s security “rests on law, principles, and action—not on silence or impunity.”
On June 5, Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform reported that the CoE has settled on the exact legal mandate for the tribunal. The tribunal’s foundation will be an international agreement between Ukraine and the CoE. That treaty would create an independent judicial body to try cases against the political and military leadership in Russia deemed responsible for launching the war.
The model for the special tribunal envisages an independent prosecutor, independent judges, and the use of English as the primary working language (with other languages used only out of necessity).
It also provides for trials in absentia, with the option of a retrial if the accused later produced in person. The tribunal will have access to Investigation materials provided by Ukrainian authorities and the International Center for Prosecutions of the Crime of Aggression (ICPA).
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