Ukraine became a full-fledged member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on January 1 – a key development for accountability and human rights in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. This significant step for global justice was the culmination of years of dedicated advocacy by Ukrainian and international nongovernmental groups.
Paving the way for Ukraine to join the court, in August, the country adopted a law providing for ratification of the Rome Statue, the court’s founding treaty.
To achieve justice for international crimes in the country’s 11-year war, authorities need to align Ukraine’s legislation with international law, so that serious crimes can be prosecuted effectively within the domestic criminal justice system. The scale of Russian forces’ war crimes and other abuses since the 2022 full-scale invasion makes this need more critical than ever. Since 2022, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office has opened more than 150,000 investigations into war crimes and other conflict-related abuses.
Yet these efforts could be hampered by recent legislative developments.
In October, after years of consultations with and input from Ukrainian civil society and legal experts, Ukraine’s parliament adopted a law to bring Ukraine’s criminal and criminal procedure codes in line with the ICC statute. The law included crucial provisions, including on crimes against humanity and command responsibility. While more reforms are needed to complete the process, experts agreed that this was a step in the right direction to help give Ukraine the necessary tools to effectively prosecute international crimes domestically.
However, on December 5, Ukraine’s parliament hastily moved to consider two draft laws that, in essence, create an entirely different approach to aligning the country’s legislation with the ICC treaty. One of Ukraine’s leading international lawyers told me that these draft laws not only contradict the October amendments, but also risk bringing existing investigations into war-related abuses to a halt. Civil society groups raised the alarm, calling the proposed bills “unjustified,” and saying they failed to take “into account the position of judges, prosecutors, and investigators, as well as civil society.” Civil society groups warned that, if adopted, the bills will “nullify many effective justice processes.”
Aligning Ukrainian national legislation with international law is crucial for achieving meaningful and comprehensive justice for victims and holding perpetrators of atrocities accountable. It is paramount that Ukrainian authorities approach this process in a thoughtful manner that takes the views of civil society into serious consideration.
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