Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyÿ signed an accord on Wednesday with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to establish a special tribunal on the war in Ukraine.
The aim of the tribunal, which was announced on 9 May in Lviv, will be to prosecute acts of aggression, a task beyond the scope of the International Criminal Court.
"We need to show clearly that aggression leads to punishment and we must make it happen together, all of Europe," Zelenskyy said, after signing the accord with Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset. The accord is a "real chance to bring justice for the crime of aggression," he said.
“The signing is a decisive step towards creating a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Secretary-General Berset said. "International law must apply to all, with no exceptions and no double standards."
According to Berset, the next step would be an enlarged agreement to "allow the widest possible number of countries to join, to support, and to help manage the tribunal."
The Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights watchdog, has 46 Member states, including Ukraine.
