Meeting in Vilnius under the Lithuanian chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, the Justice Ministers of 46 Member States adopted a declaration on Thursday 5 September reaffirming the need to create a special tribunal for Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine.
A tribunal that would be placed under the auspices of the Council of Europe and based on a bilateral agreement between the Strasbourg-based organisation and the Ukrainian government, in line with the recommendations of the ‘Core Group’ set up to study the possibility of creating a special tribunal of this kind.
If it is created, it will have to comply with international law, the European Convention on Human Rights and be based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
It should also enjoy broad international support, so that its legitimacy is guaranteed, says the Declaration, which also encourages the ratification of relevant Council of Europe treaties.
In this case, the Second Additional Protocol to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the European Convention on Extradition and its protocols are all texts that are open to third countries, encouraging broader international cooperation.
The Declaration notes the importance of the “Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression in Ukraine” set up in The Hague, which is now operational and intended to eventually trigger a compensation mechanism.
It welcomes the launch of the ratification process by Ukraine of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and supports the ICC’s investigation to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes committed in Ukraine under its jurisdiction.
The Declaration encourages Member States, third countries and international organisations to contribute to the work of the ‘Core Group’, with which the Council of Europe and the European Union are already collaborating.
Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, was present at the adoption of this Declaration, which was supported by the Ministers of Justice of the Member States of the Council of Europe, with the exception of Azerbaijan, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Turkey.
The United States is also a signatory.
Link to the Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/dcl (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)