On April 7, 2023, the National Academy of Internal Affairs hosted a meeting of the interdepartmental scientific and practical round table “Special International Tribunal for the Investigation of the Crime of russian Aggression: World Practice of Creation and Functioning”, co-organized by the Research Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific and Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine and the public organization IKAR.
The event was held in a mixed format and brought together representatives of legislative authorities, law enforcement institutions, as well as higher education institutions and research institutions, scientists and practitioners.
From Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the event was attended by:
- Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise
- Oleksandr Sadchenko, Head of the Laboratory for the Organization of Scientific, Methodological Activities, Regulatory Support and International Cooperation, Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise
The round table meeting was opened by the Vice-Rector of the National Academy of Internal Affairs, Doctor of Law, Professor Serhii Cherniavskyi and outlined the main directions of work, expressed gratitude to the co-organizers of the scientific meeting, noted the interested participation of representatives of state authorities, the National Police.
During the round table, the participants in their speeches focused on the advantages and disadvantages of various models of creating a special tribunal to bring to justice those responsible for the crime of aggression; substantiated the expediency of developing new security instruments that will ensure the implementation of the principle of inevitability of punishments.
Opinions were also expressed on the experience of detecting and recording evidence of russia’s armed aggression in the de-occupied territories, the use of technical means for their collection in order to further transfer them to international judicial institutions
Representatives of the public organization Icarus outlined the prospects for studying russian society in the context of russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, highlighted problematic aspects of compensation for damage caused by russian armed aggression, argued the ambiguity of approaches to determining the optimal model of a special tribunal.
The issue of ecocide is relevant and quite significant for Ukraine today. David Tolbert, a lawyer for the international protection of human rights, and a professor at Georgetown University Faculty of Law, expressed his proposals in a video message. He analyzed in detail the issues of prosecution for the crime of aggression, in particular for committing ecocide. David Tolbert noted that the International Criminal Court has limited opportunities to prosecute perpetrators of environmental crimes, so Ukraine can contribute to the development of the international practice of prosecution for crimes against wildlife.
As a result of the discussion, recommendations will be developed for improving the national criminal and criminal procedural legislation in the direction of its harmonization with the norms of international law, especially the provisions of the Rome Statute.
