International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine opens in The Hague
The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, based at the EU Criminal Justice Cooperation Agency (Eurojust), opened its doors in The Hague today, 3 July.
This was reported by European Pravda.
It is noted that the work of the International Centre is important to prepare for an international tribunal or other trials against Russia.
It (the centre - ed.) will provide a structure to support and improve ongoing and future investigations into the crime of aggression, as well as facilitate the exchange and analysis of evidence gathered since the start of Russian aggression," the report said.
The centre, set up with the support of the European Commission, consists of national prosecutors already involved in Joint Investigation Teams and with whom the centres are cooperating in their activities. They will provide operational, legal, financial and logistical support. They will also hold and analyse evidence of Russian crimes.
The International Criminal Court is mandated to prosecute serious international crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. However, so far the ICC cannot prosecute Russia for the crime of aggression because Russia is not a member state of the ICC," it said.
Therefore, the European Commission in November 2022 proposed options to member states that could fill the gap and guarantee full responsibility for all crimes committed in Ukraine. These options consider the creation of an accountability mechanism to ensure the prosecution of crimes of aggression.
While discussions continue, notably within the Core Group, on the creation of a Special Court, it has been decided to establish an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine to provide relevant evidence and launch investigations swiftly.
Earlier, Socoportal wrote that the Belarusian embassy in The Hague was attacked and police detained a suspect.