The project of a special court to judge Russia’s crimes in Ukraine could “doom to failure” the ongoing investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the jurisdiction’s prosecutor warned on Monday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed on Wednesday to set up a UN-backed special tribunal to prosecute Russia’s crimes of aggression against Ukraine.
“We need the tools to get the job done”
Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, urged the international community in response to focus on supporting and funding the ICC, which is currently conducting its own investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
“We cannot be doomed. We need the tools to do the job. We don’t have those tools,” Karim Khan told reporters as part of an annual meeting of 123 ICC member countries in The Hague.
The prosecutor claimed that there were “many promises that any initiative (for a special court) would not undermine the Court”, but that the ICC was already facing a budget deficit. “We should avoid fragmentation and prefer consolidation,” he said.
ICC has no jurisdiction over Russia’s “crimes of aggression”
The ICC only has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine and not over Russia’s “crimes of aggression”, as Moscow is not a signatory to the Treaty of Rome establishing the Court.
“An ad hoc tribunal with jurisdiction for crimes of aggression would allow the prosecution of the highest Russian leaders who would otherwise enjoy immunity,” the European Commission explained.
According to Karim Khan, member states could find ways to allow the ICC to prosecute a non-member country for the crime of aggression.
Brussels was also wrong about the immunity of Russian leaders, the prosecutor said, adding that he would raise the issue personally with Ursula von der Leyen.
“The EU has obviously misrepresented the law,” he said. “They do not appear to have been equipped with a full understanding of the Rome Statute,” she added.
Ukraine and several Western countries have backed calls for a special court, with the Netherlands offering to host. Moscow believes that such a court would be illegitimate.
Source: BFM TV
