The International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression of the Russian Federation will begin its work in The Hague in the summer, the Office of the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine has said.
Attorneys general of the member states of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) signed an annex to the Agreement on the establishment of the JIT to launch the International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression on the basis of Eurojust on the sidelines of the United for Justice Conference in Lviv on 4 March.
The creation of this centre was supported by Eurojust, the International Criminal Court in partnership with Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia and Romania.
"We feel the support and cohesion of our international partners for our main goal – bringing the aggressor to justice. The opening of the international centre in The Hague is another legal step towards this," said Prosecutor-General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin.
According to Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, the establishment of the International Centre will help ensure close cooperation between the partners. Hamran assured that Eurojust is ready to provide technical assistance to start its work.
Prosecutors and investigators from the JIT member states will work in The Hague, and the possibility of involving prosecutors from other countries is also being considered. In the future, experts may be involved in the work of the International Centre.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recently announced the signing of an agreement to establish an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Russian Aggression.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the coalition for the creation of a special tribunal for Russia already includes 29 states.