From the early days of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, there have been clarion calls for individual criminal accountability. The blatant act of military aggression ordered by Russia’s political leadership, and the prolonged, indiscriminate bombardment of towns and villages on a scale not seen in Europe since World War II, has upended the international legal order. While Western states have rallied to sustain their Ukrainian ally with political and military support, politicians, lawyers and scholars speak of the critical need for this aggression to be prosecuted in a special, international court of law. But political reluctance on key legal issues has led to deadlock, and resolute diplomatic action is needed to progress the vital issue of legal accountability.

Creating a new ‘Special’ Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression

The need for a new court is deemed necessary because the International Criminal Court (ICC) lacks jurisdiction for the crime of aggression, but otherwise has the ability to prosecute a full panoply of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Indeed, the court has already issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crime of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine into Russia.