According to Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, the establishment and swift launch of the special tribunal is a crucial step in holding Russia accountable and preventing a culture of impunity. “Russia has brutally violated the norms of international law through its aggression in Ukraine,” said Tsahkna. “It is our shared duty to ensure that all international crimes committed during Russia’s war of aggression, including the crime of aggression itself, do not go unpunished. That is why we must move quickly to make the special tribunal operational. Estonia is also prepared to provide financial support to the tribunal that would function under the auspices of the Council of Europe.”
The special tribunal for the crime of aggression will be an international, independent court established through an agreement between the Council of Europe and Ukraine. Its purpose is to investigate and prosecute those individuals most responsible for the crime of aggression. In June of this year, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an agreement to establish a special tribunal. The tribunal will complement the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Ukraine. The special tribunal will focus specifically on the crime of aggression.
The next step is for the Council of Europe to adopt a resolution confirming the Enlarged Partial Agreement. This will establish the tribunal’s Register and its funding mechanism, which will govern the administrative functioning of the tribunal, including the approval of its budget. The Enlarged Partial Agreement is also open to non-member states of the Council of Europe and to the European Union.
