An office responsible for investigating the aggression committed by Russia against Ukraine opened its doors on Monday 3 July in The Hague. In addition to Ukraine, five countries of the European Union participate in this International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (CIPA), placed under the authority of Eurojust, the agency of the European Union (EU) which allows the cooperation of judicial authorities in criminal matters.
Magistrates from the three Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as from Poland and Romania will take part in the investigation. The United States is associated with the CIPA by a specific agreement because it has a lot of evidence, it is explained. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has also signed an agreement with Eurojust, allowing him to access the evidence shared between the magistrates.
In itself, the opening of the CIPA is not really a revolution. Eurojust has already set up a joint investigation team for other crimes committed in Ukraine. The magistrates will be able to exchange their evidence without going through the classic letters rogatory, which are slower and more complicated: this is the very purpose of the Eurojust agency. But if this is not a revolution, it is nevertheless a great step forward for Ukraine in its campaign for the creation of a special court. During a press conference in The Hague for the launch of CIPA, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, greeted a moment “historical”.
A leader’s crime
The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine has been investigating the crime of aggression since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. According to Kostin, 600 people are suspected of having participated in the crime of aggression, a crime of leaders consisting of attacking a country illegally, that is to say without a UN mandate and without being in a state of self-defence. The Nuremberg tribunal, responsible for the trials after the Second World War, had pronounced several convictions for assault or “crime against peace”.
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and its continued use of force against sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, which threatens the very existence of Ukraine, is not only directed against my countrysaid Andriy Kostin. It constitutes a global threat to peace, security and stability. » The prosecutor again called for the creation of a special international court dedicated to the Russian aggression of Ukraine: “It is essential to show that we are ready to have accountability for the crime of aggression central to our political, legal and moral agenda. »
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