On 21 August, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada ratified the statute of the International Criminal Court, known as the Rome Statute. “281 MPs voted in favour, according to Komersant ukrainskyi
reports citing MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
This ratification should mean Ukraine’s full accession to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, but the Verkhovna Rada has set one condition:
“Ukraine does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over its citizens for crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute”.
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
This article is called “War Crimes”, and Ukraine will not recognise it for 7 years from the date of ratification.
In fact, this article was the stumbling block and the reason why Ukraine has not ratified the document for so long since it was signed in 2000.
The day before, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Iryna Mudra listed the benefits of ratifying the Rome Statute for Ukraine:
- Punishment of Russian criminals
- Defending Ukraine’s interests in the ICC.
- Ukraine’s European integration and fulfilment of our part of the security agreements.
- Compensation for Ukrainians who have suffered from Russian crimes.
- Protection of our military.
“Ukraine’s involvement in the ICC will increase the effectiveness of the ICC’s work in relation to Ukraine, and bring to justice those responsible for crimes committed by Russian citizens on the territory of Ukraine. In fact, we will be involved in the work of the world’s key justice body and will be able to influence the priority of our issue in it. The ICC has already issued six arrest warrants for Russian criminals, including Putin and the army leadership: Shoigu, Gerasimov and other generals. Our participation in the work of the ICC will allow us to strengthen the consideration of current cases, open new ones and ensure fair punishment for all Russian criminals,”
– mudra wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, it is known that Russia has withdrawn its signature to the Rome Statute and does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Therefore, justice for Russian criminals is limited to this fact.
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Rome Statute
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is an international treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted on 17 July 1998 at a diplomatic conference in Rome and entered into force on 1 July 2002. To date, 124 states have ratified the Rome Statute.
The Statute establishes four main international crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the Court: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. During the negotiations, the inclusion of the crime of ecocide in this list was also considered.
The creation of a permanent International Criminal Court was the result of many years of efforts by the international community after the Second World War. Previous attempts included the establishment of the Nuremberg Tribunal, as well as the UN ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Ukraine signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but ratified it only today. Nevertheless, during this time, Ukraine has recognised the jurisdiction of the ICC over crimes committed on its territory.
Some states, such as the United States, China and Russia, have not ratified the Rome Statute, formally expressing concerns about the restriction of their sovereignty.
Nevertheless, in 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Presidential Ombudsperson for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova in connection with suspected war crimes in Ukraine. These individuals are now required to be arrested on the territory of the treaty’s member states.