Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Borys Tarasyuk, predicts that work on the statute of the special tribunal for Russia's crimes should be completed in a few weeks, and that the vote on the joint agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on which it will operate and the establishment of the tribunal itself should be held in May.
He said this in a comment to Ukrinform after a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
"My vision is that all this should be finalised in May. Therefore, my proposal to the leadership, which was supported by PACE President Theodoros Rouxopoulos, is to use the ministerial meeting in Luxembourg to actually ‘sanctify’ the creation of a special tribunal," Tarasyuk said.
Anton Korynevych: "A special tribunal is the only mechanism that can punish Russia's top political and military leadership"According to him, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe meets once a year. On 14 May, such a meeting is due to take place in Luxembourg, as this country is completing its rotating presidency of the Council of Europe. Therefore, it is there that all the necessary documents for the start of the work of the special tribunal can be adopted.
As of now, according to experts, ‘only one country’ may express a separate position and suspend the process of establishing the special tribunal.
- In May last year, the Council of Europe supported the creation of a special tribunal for Russia. Work on its creation began in 2022. In January 2023, the European Parliament made a crucial decision to establish a special tribunal to try the leadership of Russia and Belarus for crimes in Ukraine.
- On 4 February, the first draft of the special tribunal's charter was presented in Brussels. It is envisaged that the special tribunal will be established by agreement between the government of Ukraine and the Council of Europe. It will exercise its jurisdiction from Ukraine. The Council of Europe will be responsible for the procedure for adopting the draft legal documents necessary for the establishment of the special tribunal and their subsequent signature.
- Once operational, the special tribunal is expected to have the power to prosecute Russia's political and military leaders who bear the greatest responsibility for the war crimes.