The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, visited Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Monday 22 May, on the occasion of the 8th EU Day Against Impunity, organised this year by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, Eurojust and the Genocide Network.
As a preamble to this conference, which aims to “intensify the fight with national, European and global responses”, Mr Reynders recalled the current context of negotiations on international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and international ordinary crimes, marked by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. “It is essential to strengthen the international legal framework for investigating and prosecuting international crimes”, he said.
And according to Didier Reynders, the war in Ukraine has, in this sense, “radically changed the situation”. “I have made the fight against impunity for alleged international crimes committed in Ukraine one of the priorities of my mandate”, he said.
The Commissioner referred to the extension on 14 April (see EUROPE 13167/19) of the scope of investigations by members of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to the crime of genocide, in addition to war crimes investigations.
“A central database of evidence of international crimes to secure the storage, preservation and analysis of evidence of international crimes committed in Ukraine has been established. This database will be fully operational next month”, he further stated.
In addition, Mr Reynders guaranteed that the Commission would continue to ensure that the Ukrainian prosecution service “properly investigates and prosecutes international crimes”. However, he argued that for the most serious crimes committed during the war, the ‘International Criminal Court’ (ICC) remains “the key international actor to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators”.
Finally, the political leader returned to the establishment of a specialised court for the prosecution of the crime of aggression. “Discussions are progressing on the establishment of the international centre, which will be attached to the investigation team”, he noted. This international CIPA centre, institutionalised at the beginning of March (see EUROPE 13135/12), will provide a permanent structure for “enhanced coordination on the collection, preservation and analysis of evidence related to the crime of aggression for any future trial”. “I am very pleased to announce here today that CIPA will resume its work by this summer”, he said.
The 8th EU Day Against Impunity is part of the MLA Diplomatic Conference, which aims to conduct formal negotiations leading to the adoption of a new multilateral procedural treaty on mutual legal assistance and extradition in order to facilitate better practical cooperation between States investigating and prosecuting major international crimes.
To see the conference: https://aeur.eu/f/70s (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)