\n An international office to probe Russia for the war crime of aggression opened in The Hague on Monday in what Ukraine called a \"truly historic\" first step towards a tribunal for Moscow's leadership.\n<\/p>\n
\n The centre will investigate and gather evidence for any future trial that could bring Kremlin and Russian military figures to justice for invading their pro-Western neighbour.\n<\/p>\n
\n Its aim is to plug a legal gap left by the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) currently has no mandate to prosecute aggression -- the core war crime of launching a war against another country.\n<\/p>\n
\n The new International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (ICPA) features prosecutors from Kyiv, the European Union, the United States and the ICC.\n<\/p>\n
\n Speaking as the centre opened, Ukraine Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said a special tribunal for the Russian leadership was now \"inevitable\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are gathered here on the occasion of a truly historic moment -- I would say an epoch-defining moment,\" Andriy told a news conference at the EU judicial office Eurojust, where the ICPA is based.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kostin said the opening of the centre was a \"clear signal that the world is united and unwavering on the path to holding the Russian regime accountable for all its crimes.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n He added that the \"crime of aggression is an original sin, the commission of which opened the floodgate for 100,000 other international crimes.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Kyiv has been pushing for a special tribunal since the discovery of hundreds of bodies after Russian troops withdrew from the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital in April 2022.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Unlawful war' -\n<\/p>\n
\n International support has grown steadily, and the European Commission then announced the creation of the ICPA in February.\n<\/p>\n
\n The United States then announced that it would join last month -- despite the fact that, like Russia, it is not a member of the ICC.\n<\/p>\n
\n US Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said justice officials have now handed over the first tranche of evidence to the centre.\n<\/p>\n
\n Polite told the news conference that Washington was \"proud to stand with our European partners\" in prosecuting \"Russia's unlawful war of aggression against the people of Ukraine.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The United States also backed a special tribunal for aggression, he added.\n<\/p>\n
\n EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said Monday's launch showed Kyiv's allies would \"stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We cannot tolerate the gross violation of the prohibition of the use of force,\" he told the news conference.\n<\/p>\n
\n Calls for a special tribunal on Ukraine have mounted because of the inability to prosecute aggression by the ICC, a war crimes court which is also based in The Hague.\n<\/p>\n
\n The ICC is probing more specific war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March over alleged child deportations.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fundamental questions remain over how a special tribunal would work, when it could be created and who would support it.\n<\/p>\n
\n The most likely option appears to be a hybrid court under Ukrainian law with Ukrainian and foreign judges.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Eurojust chief Ladislav Hamran said it was \"not important at this stage... where the trial will happen\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"As far as investigation of the crime of aggression goes, it's important that we start now,\" he said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An international office to probe Russia for the war crime of aggression opened in The Hague on Monday in what Ukraine called a \"truly historic\" first step towards a tribunal for Moscow's leadership. The centre will investigate and gather evidence for any future trial that could bring Kremlin and Russian military figures to justice for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-118825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n