War crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine: Legal qualification and features of documentation
Crímenes de guerra y crímenes contra la humanidad en Ucrania: Calificación legal y características de la documentación
Abstract
This scientific article is devoted to the interpretation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, peculiarities of regulation of these illegal acts and organization of their investigation in Ukraine. Using the dialectical method, it emphasizes the necessity of using the resources of the International Criminal Court ICC in Ukraine and establishing a Special International Tribunal to hold personally responsible for the commission of crimes of aggression the actors involved. The expediency of creating a special state institute for interaction with the ICC with the appointment of national coordinators is argued. The components of the concept of investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity are determined as a holistic, comprehensive and interdisciplinary theoretical system for activities under special conditions. In the conclusions of the case, the need to ensure clear management and coordination of the international investigation team under the auspices and control of the International Criminal Court and the Eurasian Agency in order to collect, execute, systematize and preserve the factual evidence base, in accordance with the rules of the international protocol, is pointed out.
Downloads
References
BIBIK, Iryna; KULYK, Lydmula. 2014. “Comparative legal analysis of crimes against peace, human security and international law and order in the criminal legislation of Ukraine and the United States” In: South Ukrainian Law Journal. pp. 6668.
BIDA, Oleksiy. 2021. Documenting war crimes is a natural process of restoring justice. Available online. In: https://helsinki.org.ua/articles/oleksiy-bida-dokumentuvannia-voiennykh-zlochyniv-pryrodniy-protses- vidnovlennia-spravedlyvosti. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS. 1998. Rome Statute Of The International Criminal Court. Available online. In: http://zakon3.rada. gov.ua/laws/show/995_588. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
DATSENKO, Volodymyr. 2022. In nine months, Russia spent $82 billion on the war, which is a quarter of its annual budget. The Russian Federation may not pull it next year. Forbes calculations. Available online. In: https://forbes.ua/war-in-ukraine/za-devyat-misyatsiv-rosiya-vitratila-na-viynu-82-mlrd-tse-chvert-ii-richnogo-byudzhetu-rozrakhunki- forbes-24112022-9997. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
KHRYPUN, Vyacheslav. 2022. Russia’s war crimes against Ukraine: what is wrong with the well-established practice of their qualification. Available online. In: https://sud.ua/uk/news/publication/254268-voennye- prestupleniya-rf-protiv-ukrainy-chto-ne-tak-s-ustoyavsheysya-praktikoy-ikh-kvalifikatsii. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
KOSTIN: 626 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LEADERSHIP OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION REPORTED SUSPICION OF A CRIME OF AGGRESSION. 2022. Available online. In: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-kostin-rosia-ahresia-pidozra/32066456.html. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
KOVAL, Dmytro; AVRAMENKO, Roman. 2019. War crimes. Peculiarities of investigation of international crimes committed in the context of the armed conflict in the Donbas. Kiev, Ukraine.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 1993. ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF UKRAINE’S NATIONAL SECURITY. No. 964-1. Available online. In: http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/964-15. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 1994. On Ratification of The Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters. No 240/94-ВР. Available online. In: http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/main/a199405/page3. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 1995. On Ukraine’s Accession to The European Convention on The Transfer of Criminal Proceedings. No. 339/95-ВР. Available online. In: http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/339/95-вр. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 1998. On Ratification of The European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, 1959, And the Additional Protocol Of 1978 to The Convention. № 44/98–ВР. Available online. In: http:// zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/44/98-вр. Consultation date: 23/02/2023. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 2001. Criminal Code of Ukraine. № 2341-III. Available online. In: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
LAW OF UKRAINE. 2012. Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. № 4651-VI. Available online. In: http://zakon3.radaкорс.gov.ua/laws/show/4651-17/print1458049476321499. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE. 2022. Available online. In: https://t.me/s/UA_National_Police. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
NAZARCHUK, Iryna. 2020. War crimes in Donbas. What are the difficulties of investigating and bringing to justice the perpetrators? Available online. In: https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/war-crime-donbas- problems/30733783.html. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
OGRENCHUK, Ana. 2022. Larger threats must be accompanied by a stronger response. Available online. In: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/3587293-bilsi-zagrozi-maut-suprovodzuvatisa-silnisou-vidpoviddu.html. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE. 2017. Instruction on The Organization of Interaction of Pre-Trial Investigation Bodies with Other Bodies and Units of The National Police of Ukraine in The Prevention of Criminal Offenses, Their Detection and Investigation. No. 575. Available online. In: http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/z0937-17. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
PARTICIPATION OF UKRAINIAN ORGANIZATIONS IN DOCUMENTING CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN UKRAINE. 2022. Available online. In: https://niss.gov.ua/news/komentari-ekspertiv/uchast-ukrayinskykh-orhanizatsiy-u-dokumentuvanni- zlochyniv-vchynenykh-rf. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
PASHKOV, Mykhaylo. 2022. The European Parliament on the international tribunal and the punishment of the aggressor country. Available online. In: https://razumkov.org.ua/statti/yevroparlament-pro-mizhnarodnyi- trybunal-i-pokarannia-krainyagresora. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
PRISCHEPA, Jaroslav. 2020. War crimes and crimes against humanity. The Hague wants to investigate the situation in Ukraine. Available online. In: https://suspilne.media/87540-voenni-zlocini-ta-zlocini-proti- ludanosti-gaaga-hoce-rozsliduvati-situaciu-v-ukraini. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
RESOLUTION OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE. 2019. On the Adoption as A Basis of The Draft Law of Ukraine on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Ensure the Harmonization of Criminal Legislation with The Provisions of International Law. No. 27. Available online. In: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2741-19#Text. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
SECOND ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS. 2001. Available online. In: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/994_518#Text. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
SHOSTKO, Olena; OVCHARENKO, Olena. 2008. “Prospects for Ukraine’s cooperation with European institutions in the field of combating organized crime” In: The issue of combating crime. Kharkiv, Ukraine.
SMYRNOV, Maksym. 2003. “The concept and current state of the institution of mutual legal assistance in criminal cases” In: Law of Ukraine. No. 10. pp. 40-43.
THE PROSECUTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT SENT A GROUP OF 42 INVESTIGATORS AND FORENSIC EXPERTS TO UKRAINE TO INVESTIGATE INTERNATIONAL CRIMES. 2022. Available online. In: https://zmina.info/news/prokuror-mks-napravyv-v-ukrayinu-hrupu-z-42-slidchykh-ta-sudovykh-ekspertiv-dlya-rozsliduvannya-mizhnarodnykh-zlochyniv. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
TORTURE, RAPE AND MURDER: 47 THOUSAND WAR CRIMES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION WERE RECORDED IN UKRAINE. 2022. Available online. In: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/3631634- katuvanna-zgvaltuvanna-i-vbivstva-v-ukraini-zafiksuvali-47-tisac-voennih-zlociniv-rf.html. Consultation date: 23/02/2023.
Copyright
The authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
The authors retain the copyright and guarantee the journal the right to be the first publication where the article is presented, which is published under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to share the work prior to the recognition of the authorship of the article work and initial publication in this journal.
Authors may separately establish additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (for example, placing it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
This work is under license:
Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)