Kyiv / The Hague, 30 June – 1 July 2022
Since 2014, PGA has worked hand in hand with its Ukrainian members to advocate for the country’s ratification of the Rome Statute and drafting relevant laws to bring provisions of this fundamental treaty to life at the national level. PGA has been further intensifying the efforts aimed at delivering accountability to Ukraine since the beginning of the war of aggression launched on 24 February 2022 by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
It is in this difficult context that two active PGA members from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ms. Maryna Bardina (Deputy Chairperson, Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation), and Mr. Denys Maslov (Member of the Committee on Legal Policy), accepted PGA’s invitation to The Hague to meet the ICC organs and representatives of the Dutch Parliament and Government, as well as take part in the official ICC’s commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute. Senator Boris Dittrich (the Netherlands), convenor of PGA’s Rome Statute system Campaign, also took part in the meetings.
On 30 June, the delegation was received by the ICC President, Judge Piotr Hofmański, and his External Relations Advisor, Mr. Matias Hellman, to exchange on technicalities and strategies related to the universality of the Rome Statute, the ICC mandate and its jurisdiction. The subsequent meeting with Mr. Thomas Lynch, Senior Advisor, and Mr. Rod Rastan, Legal Advisor to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) enabled an informative exchange about enhancing the cooperation between Ukraine and the ICC. The conversation mostly focused on the scope of the recently adopted legislation in Ukraine which establishes a direct mechanism of cooperation of the Ukrainian prosecutorial and judicial authorities with the ICC as well as procedural aspects of the cooperation with the ICC.
Ms. Maryna Bardina and Mr. Denys Maslov underlined their commitment to cooperate closely with the ICC, and to continue raising awareness around the importance of the ratification of the Rome Statute, understood as a protective tool complementing the domestic justice and preventing the commission of further atrocities. The discussions enabled them to further strategize and formulate the message to convey to their constituencies, as well as to all relevant domestic stakeholders as to the advantages of the ICC membership.
Joining the Rome Statute system is our future, which will cement Ukraine’s commitment and dedication to human rights, the Rule of Law, and sustainable justice. Ms. Maryna Bardina (Deputy Chairperson, Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation), and Mr. Denys Maslov (Member of the Committee on Legal Policy), PGA members
Through the engagement of Senator Boris Dittrich, the delegation was welcomed by Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the ICC in The Hague at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Stressing the Netherlands’ strong commitment to support Ukraine, Ambassador van der Kwast emphasized the importance of the ratification of the Rome Statute by Ukraine, especially in consideration of the country’s recent granting of EU candidate status.
These meetings with ICC organs and a leading representative of the Assembly of States Parties served to provide useful arguments and clarify matters that can help the Members of the Rada to improve the legislation on cooperation with the ICC and undertake targeted strategies to advance the cause of ratification vis-à-vis their Executive, which has the constitutional prerogative to transmit to Parliament any treaty requiring parliamentary approval to permit ratification. Therefore, the position expressed by some commentators in the media and some authorities that Ukraine did not join the Rome Statute because of opposition in Parliament is incorrect, given that Parliament has never received the relevant legislative dossier on ratification from the Executive. [See, in this respect, the Interfax news-agency story citing the recently dismissed Prosecutor General, who blamed Parliament for the non-ratification.]
The visit of Ms. Maryna Bardina and Mr. Denys Maslov also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute on 1 July, occasion for which the ICC hosted a high-level conference in The Hague, entitled “The ICC at 20: Reflections on the past, present and future”. This event gathered about 300 participants in The Hague, ranging from representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic community to civil society organizations, represented an opportunity to assess the Court’s achievements and challenges since 2002, while exploring paths to improve the international criminal justice system. Ms. Bardina, who also holds a position of the Sub-Chair of Committee of Compliance with International Human Rights and Gender Policy at Verkhovna Rada, took the floor to ask the ICC for recommendations on encouraging victims of sexual violence to take part in investigations of these crimes committed in the context of the on-going aggressive war. Mr. Maslov further posed a question to the ICC Prosecutor on the prospects of the cooperation between the ICC and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine in investigating war crimes committed against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.
Dr. David Donat Cattin, PGA Secretary General, had the honor to moderate the final session entitled “Looking back and looking forward”, and share reflections on the effectiveness of the Court. He took note of the present difficult geopolitical context in which the rules-based international order has been dramatically under attack, and called upon all States and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern, including the crime of aggression, be given utmost priority in international relations and domestic politics. Through his interventions, the PGA’s SG tried to debunk some of the myths and misperceptions about the ICC. For example, on the costs of the ICC, the current ICC budget is lower than the budget allocated to the sole International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1999 by the UN Security Council for a single country-situation, given that the value of $1 in 1999 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.78 today. Dr. Donat Cattin also highlighted that the legal frameworks for voluntary contributions to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and to the Trust Fund for Victims are very clear, and States and other partners of international justice must make the necessary investments in support of truth-finding, also via the most adequate technologies, and victims’ rights.
The success of this two-day visit relied on the strong engagement and perseverance of PGA’s members and their remarkable commitment to champion human rights, defend the Rule of Law, and promote justice and sustainable peace in Ukraine. PGA will continue its relentless efforts to promote accountability and justice in Ukraine through the ratification of the Rome Statute as well as reforming and adopting effective legislative initiatives to ensure that the perpetrators of atrocities, starting with those responsible for the crime of aggression committed in and against Ukraine, will be held to account.
