The special international tribunal should be an effective way of punishing Russia for aggression against Ukraine - Andrey Smirnov

The special international tribunal should be an effective and fair way to punish Russia for committing a crime of aggression against Ukraine, and one of its options is the creation of an "internationalized court". This was stated by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Smirnov during a briefing at the Head of State's office. “Over the last 70 years after the Nuremberg Tribunal, aggression has been committed around the world.

And all this time the world quietly watched it, as if there was no resolution of the UN General Assembly on aggression. Unfortunately, the doctrine of international law does not work, so the bloodiest in the last 70 years the crime of aggression committed by Russia in the center of Europe may also remain unpunished. Justice demands to punish the perpetrators of it, and our tribunal is the only way to do it, ”Andrei Smirnov said.

According to him, the Core Group on the creation of a special tribunal on the crime of Russia's aggression against Ukraine will be again in September in the Hague. The deputy head of the Presidential Office noted that among the new options that should be considered during the Core Group meeting is the possibility of creating an "internationalized court".

"One of the compromises we are considering is the ability to create an" internationalized tribunal ", but not in Ukraine and not as part of the Ukrainian judicial system. This is necessary in order to find the way of creating a tribunal supported by all partners, ”Andrei Smirnov said. The Deputy Head of the Presidential Office noted that the initiation of the Internationalized Tribunal could later be supported by the UN General Assembly.

"In this case, the UN General Assembly will support the creation of a tribunal in international authoritative jurisdiction," Andrei Smirnov added. According to him, Ukraine does not agree with the so -called hybrid form of the tribunal, when it is created within the framework of Ukrainian legislation, and then other countries recognize it.

“The creation of such a tribunal - hybrid - as part of the Ukrainian system will need changes to the Constitution, which in the legal regime of martial law is impossible. The creation of a "hybrid" tribunal contains a high risk that aggression crime will be attributed to the level of interstate conflict of the two countries.

After all, we do not need the decision of the tribunal in the name of Ukraine, we need the decision of the tribunal in the name of the civilized world, ”Andrei Smirnov emphasized.

For its part, the Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a member of the working group on the creation of a tribunal under the President of Ukraine Anton Korinevich noted that the internationalized tribunal provides for the involvement of international prosecutors, investigators, international judges with citizenship other than the state of aggression.