The "Ukraine. Five o'clock in the Morning" coalition welcomes Volodymyr Zelenskyy's step towards deepening cooperation with the International Criminal Court. We believe that the official visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to The Hague on 4 May 2023, in particular to the International Criminal Court (ICC), is evidence of our country's unconditional commitment to the principles of justice and the inevitability of punishment for the most serious international crimes and the protection of the interests of victims of the war caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation.
Despite all the myths and doubts that have been spreading around the ICC in recent years, and despite Russian propaganda's attempts to levelling the role of this institution for the international legal order in the information space, the opening of an investigation into the situation in Ukraine a week after the invasion, and a year later the issuance of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, effectively demonstrate that the ICC has been and remains a key body in ensuring justice for the most serious international crimes committed by the highest leadership of any state.
However, over the nine years of the ongoing armed conflict, the Ukrainian parliament has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC - despite numerous statements of commitment to the rule of law and international law.
The jurisdiction of the ICC has been extended to the territory of Ukraine since 21 November 2013 as a result of two declarations submitted in 2014 and 2015 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in accordance with Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute. While there is no significant difference between the ratification of the RS and the declarations in terms of the state's investigative and cooperation obligations or the ICC's mandate, the difference lies in the participation rights that the state receives after ratification.
In particular, only after ratification of the Rome Statute, Ukraine will have the right to nominate its citizens to participate in the election of the ICC Prosecutor, the Chief of Staff, judges, to participate in the development of resolutions aimed at developing and strengthening the work of the ICC, and to vote during the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, to convene working groups to develop amendments to the RS, in particular on the crime of aggression, to receive technical assistance to strengthen national capacity from other countries participating in the Assembly, to participate in working groups on reforming, developing and strengthening the ICC as an institution.
Currently, Ukraine remains a place where mass war crimes were committed, but until the ratification of the Rome Statute, our country does not acquire the rights of a full-fledged member of the ICC, an effective mechanism for prosecuting the most serious international crimes.
It is important to note that ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC is an obligation of Ukraine enshrined in the Association Agreement with the EU. Therefore, if Ukraine really intends to become a member of the European Union, ratification of the Rome Statute is an inevitable step.
In the Joint Guidelines on Accountability for International Crimes Committed in Ukraine, a wide range of Ukrainian civil society organisations emphasise that the adoption of the Rome Statute and the establishment of the ICC was a civilisational breakthrough and that all further actions to ensure accountability for international crimes during Russia's war against Ukraine should develop and strengthen the international criminal justice system, which is based on the Rome Statute and the ICC.
The Coalition "Ukraine. Five in the Morning" coalition calls on the President of Ukraine to initiate the process of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court before the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
During a press conference, President Zelenskyy said that freedom and justice are universal values. "Ukraine's ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC will demonstrate a sincere intention to stand with the victims and the people of Ukraine, who have been fighting for these universal values of freedom and justice for the tenth year in a row.
05.05.2023
