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Ukraine and the Rome Statute

Timeline of the events

  1. 20 January 2000

    Ukraine signed the Rome Statute (RS).

  2. 29 January 2007

    Ukraine ratified the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Court (APIC).

  3. 17 April 2014

    The Government of Ukraine lodged a declaration under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute accepting the ICC's jurisdiction.

  4. 25 April 2014

    ICC Prosecutor announced opening a preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine.

  5. 05 September 2014 / 12 February 2015

    Minsk agreement (Protocol and Memorandum and subsequent Package of Measures) signed between Russia and Ukraine and endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2202. Contains highly problematic Art. 5 on amnesties (“Provide pardon and amnesty by way of enacting a law that forbids persecution and punishment of persons in relation to events that took place in particular districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine.”).

  6. 16 September 2014

    The Rada of Ukraine voted unanimously on an Association Agreement with the EU that includes two clauses on ICC ratification and implementation.

  7. December 2014

    Parliamentary elections. PGA organised a mission to the Rada and broadened its membership.

  8. 08 September 2015

    The Government of Ukraine lodged a second declaration under article 12(3) of the Statute accepting the exercise of jurisdiction by the ICC in relation to alleged crimes committed on its territory from 20 February 2014 onwards, with no end date.

  9. 02 June 2016

    Parliament of Ukraine adopted an amendment to article 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine which stated that the ICC jurisdiction may be recognized by Ukraine and introduced a special clause – included by the President- which delayed the possibility of the ratification to be considered by the Parliament for 3 years.

  10. 12-14 July 2016

    Roundtable (co-organised by PGA and NGOS, Human Rights Agenda) to promote Legislative/draft law to implement the RS, prepared by international experts and, with the input of PGA, and supported by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. The draft law has been introduced to the Parliament and submitted to the consultations at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  11. 1 September 2017

    EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (signed in 2014) entered into force. Article 8 states: “The Parties shall cooperate in promoting peace and international justice by ratifying and implementing the RS of the ICC of 1998 and its related instruments”.

  12. 20 December 2018

    The draft law was registered as bill 9438 after having been endorsed by the Cabinet on 18 December 2018.

  13. 27 February 2019

    The draft bill 9438 was considered by the Legislative Committee which approved the text for further consideration in plenary.

  14. 31 March/ 21 April 2019

    Presidential elections- overwhelming victory of Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyi (Servant of the People party)- obtained 73.22% of the votes in the second round.

  15. 6 June 2019

    the draft bill 9438 was adopted in first reading, a few weeks before the Parliamentary elections, subsequently registered as n°0892.

  16. 30 June 2019

    Constitutional transition period provisions amendment to article 124 expired. No more obstacles to joining the ICC, path to ratification has opened.

  17. 21 July 2019

    Snap legislative elections (originally scheduled to be held at the end of October) marked a majority victory by Servant of the People party which scored the first ever parliamentary majority in the history of independent Ukraine. 80% of MPs have been newcomers.

  18. August 2019

    Then Deputy Head of President Zelenskyi’s Office, and former Prosecutor General, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, announced that one of the President’s priorities would be to ratify the ICC Rome Statute.

  19. September / October 2019

    A new draft law implementing International humanitarian law (IHL) and International criminal law (ICL) was presented by the new Government, replacing the previous Bill 0892 (that had already passed the first reading under the previous legislature).

  20. 21 October 2019

    The Prosecutor General set up a specialized "Department for Supervision in Criminal Proceedings of the Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict" in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

  21. 27 December 2019

    Bill 2689 (The Bill on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of the International Criminal and Humanitarian Law), registered in the Parliament (with the incorporated amendments submitted by PGA, following the Roundtable and bilateral meetings organized by PGA and CCL, under the aegis of the Committee on Foreign Policy of the Verkhovna Rada on 28 November 2019).

  22. 5 February 2020

    The Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement of the Verkhovna Rada, chaired by Mr. Denys Monastyrskyi (PGA member), resolutely approved Bill no. 2689. This was followed by a high-level roundtable in the Verkhovna Rada organised by CCL and the Law Enforcement Committee on 7 February to support the adoption of the Bill 2689, attended by 120+ participants. PGA Secretariat was one of the panellists to present its position.

  23. 18 September 2020

    The Parliament of Ukraine passed in its first reading the Bill implementing international criminal and humanitarian law into the domestic legislation of Ukraine.

  24. 11 December 2020

    Conclusion of the ICC preliminary examination (investigation not launched yet)

  25. 21 May 2021

    The Verkhovna Rada adopted the Bill no. 2689 “On amendments to certain legislative acts on the Enforcement of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law”, with 248 votes in favour out of 363 Members present. The law (now registered as Law No. 1164-IX) has yet to be signed and promulgated by the President.

 

PGA’s involvement

  1. 17 July 2014

    A delegation of Ukrainian PGA members visited The Hague to meet the Dutch Parliamentarians and the ICC officials.

  2. 28 September 2015

    PGA organised a mission of Ukrainian Parliamentarians to the Hague to meet with ICC officials in the Hague to discuss urgent protection from sexual and gender based violence in light of the on- going armed conflict in Ukraine.

  3. 20 – 22 April 2015

    A delegation from PGA’s Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC conducted a field mission in Kyiv, meeting with newly elected parliamentarians and key stakeholders in order to familiarize them with PGA’s goals and activities with respect to Rome Statute.

  4. 18- 19 June 2015

    PGA hosts a Parliamentary round-table working session on “ICC Ratification: Increasing the Opportunities for Justice in Ukraine”, in which Parliamentarians were informed about the technical aspects and procedural issues in ratifying the Rome Statute. See the outcome document.

  5. 15 September 2015

    PGA published an op-ed: Why Ukraine has nothing to lose from ratifying the Rome Statute of the ICC, but everything to gain” to counter the misinformation of Ukrainian decision-makers.

  6. 14-16 December 2015

    Parliamentary Seminar on ICC in Ukraine, under high patronage of Chairman of Verkhovna Rada and fraction meetings.

  7. 12-14 July 2016

    Parliamentary Roundtable organised by PGA and NGO Human Rights Agenda with the support of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. It introduced a draft law to implement the RS into the criminal code of Ukraine, prepared by experts, with PGA's input. The draft law was submitted to the consultations at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  8. 23 December 2016

    Chair of PGA Ukraine National Group hosts Roundtable on Rome Statute Implementation

  9. 05 October 2017

    Chairman of the Human Rights Committee Hryhoriy Nemyria held a meeting with the Secretary General of the Parliamentarians for Global Action

  10. 06 October 2017

    PGA Mission to Kyiv reinforces Ukrainian MPs commitment to prevent and address atrocities

  11. 20 February 2017

    Chair of PGA Ukraine Group Demands that his Country Urgently Joins the ICC

  12. 12 March 2018

    The Chairman of the Ukrainian Human Rights Committee met with the President and Secretary General of PGA

  13. 21 March 2018

    PGA President met with Speaker of the Rada of Ukraine and key Legislators in Kyiv.

  14. 09 May 2018

    PGA and Centre for Civil Liberties co- organised a Roundtable at Ukrainian Parliament: Ensuring harmonization of the criminal legislation with provisions of the international law in the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv.

  15. 17 - 18 November 2018

    10th CAP-ICC and 40th Annual Forum of PGA organised in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Kyiv.

  16. 23 September 2019:

    A letter sent by NGOs, incl. PGA, to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, asking his government to immediately ratify to and ensure the implementation of the RS.

  17. 07 October 2019

    Dr. Cattin, PGA’s Secretary General, writes an op-ed in response to “The Rome Statute is a trap for Ukraine” written by Deputy Minister of the Interior Oleksandr Chebanenko.

  18. 28 November 2019

    Roundtable to support the RS ratification and the IHL/ICL implementing legislation process, organized by PGA and CCL, under the aegis of the Committee on Foreign Policy of the Verkhovna Rada. As a result, PGA, has been asked to make submissions on the new Bill which were incorporated in the final version of the Bill: 12 and 19 December 2019.

  19. 03 December 2019

    PGA Member Hon. Hryhoriy Nemyria, MP (Ukraine) addressed the 18th Assembly of States Parties, committing Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute.

  20. 07 February 2020

    PGA addressed a high-level roundtable in the Verkhovna Rada to support the Bill 2689 implementing provisions of international criminal and humanitarian law into the Criminal Code of Ukraine, attended by 120+ participants (organised by the CCL and the Law Enforcement Committee of the Rada). PGA and CCL drafted a resolution calling on Parliamentarians to support the Bill 2689.

  21. 17 July 2020

    PGA co-organised a web-seminar with its partner, Centre for Civil Liberties, and experts in Ukraine.

  22. 16 September 2020

    Joint NGO Letter to Members of the Rada on Aligning Domestic Legislation with International Criminal Law and International Humanitarian Law

  23. 11 November 2020

    PGA participates in a meeting with the authors of the bill № 2689.

  24. 12 December 2020

    PGA comments for the second reading of the Bill no. 2689 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on the Enforcement of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law”.

  25. 15 March 2021

    PGA sends letter to the Ukrainian President and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada in support of the adoption of the Bill no. 2689.

  26. 9 March 2021

    PGA submits a commentary to the selected provisions of the latest version of the Bill no. 2689.

  27. May 2021

    PGA sends letters to the Ukrainian President and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada urging the signature of the Law No. 1164-IX (Bill no. 2689 prior to its adoption).

  28. 19 and 21 July 2021

    PGA addresses two panels on the (i) misconception about the ratification of the Rome Statute and (ii) Cooperation between Ukraine and the International Criminal Court: will the reality of expectations be met? (organised on the occasion of the Week of International Criminal Justice by Centre of Civil Liberties).

  29. 30 September 2021

    Joint letter, co-signed by PGA, to the Ukrainian President to sign the Law No. 1164-IX

 

Work of PGA in this Country:

"Verkhovna Rada" by Martin Schulz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

On 21 August 2024, with an overwhelming 281 votes in favor out of 328 MPs present, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law to Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and its amendments.

Meeting of the PGA United Nations Advisory Committee and PGA Executive Committee

Highlighting progress made and remaining challenges regarding the implementation of PGA Programs

"No to War in Ukraine - 28" by garryknight is marked with CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/?ref=openverse.

On 24 February 2022, when the Russian Federation declared to the world the launch of its full-scale invasion against Ukraine. This grim date marks the beginning of a war that has actually been ongoing for a decade.

On 31 January- 1 February 2024, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) facilitated a visit of a Ukrainian parliamentary delegation to the Hague

The purpose of the visit was two-fold: to advance the Rome Statute ratification and implementation process, as well as assist the Ukrainian parliamentarians in their advocacy for political support with the legislators of the Netherlands.

The war of aggression against Ukraine is primarily an aggression against its civilians.

One year has passed since the Russian Federation launched its textbook example of aggression against Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Proposal to Amend the Rome Statute Kampala Amendment on the Crime of Aggression

The ICC is currently unable to prosecute the crime of aggression being committed against Ukraine because Russia is a non-party to the ICC and has also not accepted the jurisdiction of the crime of aggression.

UN Ambassadors and Officials gather for the Strategic Meeting of the PGA United Nations Advisory Committee

– The Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations (UN) generously hosted the first 2023 strategic meeting of the PGA UN Advisory Committee. This informal encounter counted on the participation of UN Ambassadors and officials to discuss pressing issues for the international community.

On 5-9 December, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) participated in the 21st session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) of the International Criminal Court

PGA organized two critical side events on 8 December, which provided concrete reflections on serious issues faced by the Rome Statute system. Both events gathered high-level participation from the ICC and States representatives, as well as other civil society organizations.

Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

The Center for Civil Liberties has been the most credible, consistent, and coherent voice in support of all human rights for all in Ukraine since the peaceful Euromaidan revolution of 2014.

Photo by Mathias Reding: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sign-save-ukraine-on-protest-against-war-in-ukraine-11421084/

PGA reiterates the importance of holding accountable perpetrators of the gravest crimes, including leaders responsible for the crime of aggression.

Advocating for justice in Ukraine: PGA members from the Verkhovna Rada visit The Hague

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.

International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: Daniel Garzón López

PGA welcomes the adoption of the Law on the Amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada on 03 May 2022.

Child refugee at Lviv train station, Ukraine - March 7, 2022; Photo: ©ruslanlytvyn/123RF.COM

War in Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. This premeditated, unjustified, and unjustifiable invasion, firmly condemned by PGA, represents an act of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter...

Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash

PGA joins the forceful statement issued today in Kyiv by the Euromaidan SOS coalition calling for the President of Ukraine to sign into law Act of Parliament No. 2689

PGA calls on States to increase support for the ICC investigation in Ukraine

Euro-Parliamentarians call for States to remove procedural bar on the crime of aggression

Foreign Affairs Committees call on the creation of an international criminal tribunal into Putin's crimes

Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the parliaments of Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom call for the creation of an International Crimi

Photo by Rostislav Artov on Unsplash

Leaders of PGA and its Ukrainian civil society partner, the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), have written a letter to the President of the Republic of Ukraine urging decisive action towards Ukrainian membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

PGA Statement on the situation in Ukraine

PGA reaffirms that any military attack directed against Ukrainian territory would be unlawful use of force prohibited by the UN Charter and may qualify as crime of aggression attributable to the individual criminal responsibility of the leader(s).

Parliament of Ukraine Adopts Bill to Implement International Criminal and Humanitarian Law

Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) adopted Bill 2689 “On amendments to certain legislative acts on the Enforcement of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law”

Image: 5 February 2020, the Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement of the Verkhovna Rada

Bill no. 2689 harmonizes the criminal code of Ukraine with international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

Publication

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court
Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

Parliamentary Kit on the International Criminal Court

It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

Description

Created by the Rome Statute, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent and independent international court capable of investigating and bringing to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and human rights.

The Rome Statute defines the crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction and provides the general principles and procedures for the operation of the Court. It also outlines the cooperation obligations of its State Parties. It is imperative that the Rome Statute be ratified universally for the successful functioning of the Court. Parliamentarians should ensure that the ICC is truly universal.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Toolkit
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Handbook for Parliamentarians: National Nomination of Judicial Candidates for the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Description

The ICC is the first and only permanent independent court with the mandate to investigate and prosecute individuals responsible for committing international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Its 18 judges from around the world, elected for a nine-year term, play a key role in ensuring this expectation is lived up to through their primary mandate to render authoritative and high-quality jurisprudence and guarantee fair trials.

Therefore, the quality of the judges has fundamental importance to the performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the ICC, which is at the heart of the long-term success of the ICC and the Rome Statute system as a whole. In this handbook, PGA sets forth specific criteria and recommendations for Parliamentarians to encourage their governments to improve national nomination procedures for ICC judicial candidates and adopt good practices and requirements to ensure these processes are fair, transparent, and merit-based. The goal of robust nomination procedures is to ensure that only candidate judges or jurists of the highest caliber make it on the ballot.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Parliamentarians for Global Action

Publication

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Handbook: Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Description

It is our honor and privilege to present to you the Third Edition of the Handbook on the Ratification and Implementation of the Kampala Amendments on the Crime of Aggression to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

It is the product of our collaborative effort aimed at assisting States in ratifying the amendments adopted by consensus in Kampala and helping criminalize the most serious forms of the illegal use of force.

PDF(s)

Additional Details

  • Publication Type: Handbook
  • Author(s): Permanent Mission of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations; Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression; Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University (LISD); (Drafting Assistance by PGA)