Memorandum on holding Russia's leadership to account for crime of aggression signed in Kyiv

The memorandum between the Inter-Factional Association of the Verkhovna Rada "Tribunal for Russian Aggressors", the All-Ukrainian NGO "Association of Lawyers of Ukraine", and the International Bar Association was signed at the Ukrinform news agency.

"Signing the memorandum is a big step, fixation of what has already been done and what should be done in the near future," said MP of Ukraine Oleksandr Kachura.

As he emphasized, the question of the future architecture of responsibility and justice in the world is currently being settled, and therefore it is necessary to create an international tribunal.

"By signing this memorandum, we must achieve the result, the result that the tribunal is created and the criminals are punished. There will be a tribunal, there will be victory," the parliamentarian emphasized.

In his turn, Dr. Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association, expressed the opinion that not only the memorandum signed by the participants was important to create a tribunal, but the unanimity of international partners in supporting Ukraine was needed.

"The issue of creating a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is one of the key ones when we talk about ensuring justice," said Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

He noted that, according to international law, there are four categories of "the most serious international crimes, the most serious crimes against international law" – the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

"Currently, the International Criminal Court is operating effectively and actively in The Hague, which is investigating the situation in Ukraine for the commission of the first three of the specified categories of crimes, but there is a gap regarding the crime of aggression because currently there is no international court or tribunal that has the jurisdiction to prosecute for committing this crime," Korynevych emphasized.

According to the Ambassador, it is necessary to close the gap that currently exists in international law by creating a special tribunal that will have jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

"So, I am convinced that the work of international and national associations of lawyers, our parliamentarians, will provide a new impetus for work to achieve our common goal," he said.

At the same time, President of the All-Ukrainian NGO "Association of Lawyers of Ukraine" Mykola Stetsenko expressed the opinion that the signed memorandum would be the next step to record the already existing achievements.