Ukrainian parliament ratifies Rome Statute of International Criminal Court

On August 21, the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine's parliament – ed.] supported the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

People's deputy Yaroslav Zhelezniak and European Pravda reported this.

As the people's deputy noted, 281 people's deputies voted "for."

It is reported that, before the vote, letters of support from the General Staff and the head of Ukraine's intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, were handed over to the people's deputies.

On August 15, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and its amendments. Another project provides for amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine against the background of ratification.

The explanatory note for the proposed changes to the Criminal Code mentions that, at present, the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not include penalties for committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, which goes against customary international humanitarian law rather than any specific international agreements. Since its initial adoption, the Criminal Code has not been regularly updated to align with current international law.

"The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court incorporates the most recent developments in international law regarding prosecuting international crimes. Aligning Ukraine's criminal and procedural legislation with the Rome Statute will update Ukrainian criminal liability laws in accordance with current international legal trends," the document reads.

It is worth adding that Ukraine's ratification of the provisions of the Rome Statute of the ICC will mean Ukraine's full accession to the International Criminal Court.

Ukraine ratifies the Rome Statute with a separate statement stating that, within seven years of the entry into force of the ratification law, "Ukraine does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over its citizens for the commission of crimes provided for in Article 8 of the Rome Statute."

Currently, it is not clear how exactly this rule will work, given that Ukraine has already granted the ICC the right to investigate crimes committed on its territory.

It is worth noting that Ukraine plans to join the updated version of the ICC statute, which also includes Article 8bis, which appeared as a result of the so-called Kampala amendments of 2010 and provides for responsibility for the crime of aggression.

However, ratification is retrospective, meaning it operates for the future only, and accountability does not apply to nations that have not ratified the Kampala Amendments, such as Russia, which is not part of the ICC.

Because of this, to hold the leadership of the Russian Federation accountable for the aggression of 2022, Ukraine will obviously continue to work on the creation of a special tribunal.

The Office of the President also explained that the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court will give Ukraine more tools to bring Russian war criminals to justice.

"The International Criminal Court has already issued six warrants for the arrest of Russian criminals, in particular Putin, the top of the army: Shoigu, Gerasimov and other generals. Our participation in the work of the International Criminal Court will allow us to strengthen the investigation of current cases, open new ones, and ensure fair punishment for all Russian criminals," the Deputy Chairman Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, explained.

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Ukraine signed the Rome Statute in 2000 but has not ratified it since, despite the National Security and Defense Council's recognition of the need for ratification in 2015. One reason for this delay was the concern that the International Criminal Court could prosecute Ukrainian citizens.