Ukraine must train own specialists for ICC – opinion
Ukraine should create a center to train its own specialists for the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Barristers UA partner Oleksiy Shevchuk.
"Ukraine must offer systemic expertise and professional people capable of working effectively within the ICC structure. Ukraine should establish a center for training specialists to work in international judicial bodies, primarily the ICC, as international criminal law will be one of the defining policy fields of the 21st century," he told Interfax-Ukraine.
As Shevchuk noted, the ICC structure currently requires a wide range of specialists to ensure its operation.
"There are positions for OSINT coordinators, language analysts, financial experts, evidence management specialists, and even cyber intelligence experts. The court is a massive organism. For it to function, dozens of highly qualified specialists in various fields are needed. Unfortunately, there are only a few such people in Ukraine. If there are 10 people ready to start work in The Hague tomorrow, that would be an optimistic forecast," he said.
At the same time, Shevchuk noted that while Ukraine has a strong school of ECHR practice, the ICC is a different world with a different procedural logic, role of evidence, and information collection mechanism.
"The court requires practical skills in international criminal procedure, an understanding of military operations, and language competence at the level of technical translation of international terminology. It is a highly specialized environment," he added.
Commenting on steps to create a training center for ICC specialists, Shevchuk said such a center should have several tracks: a program for practicing lawyers (investigators, prosecutors, attorneys), a program for technical and analytical staff (OSINT specialists, evidence managers, translators, data auditors), and a program for language and ethical training adapted to Hague standards.
"In Ukraine, we have a powerful academic base, but even scholars need a team capable of integrating into the court’s practical activities tomorrow. Canada created the Canadian Centre for International Justice, which trains lawyers and analysts specifically for international tribunals. Ukraine needs something similar—with partnerships between universities, government structures, and the ICC itself. This could be a joint initiative of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, academic institutions, and NGOs," Shevchuk said.
"In the coming decades, the vector will certainly shift toward The Hague—and Ukraine needs real specialists, not symbolic ones. This is not a matter of prestige, but a matter of competence: either we train our own specialists, or others will do it for us," the lawyer concluded.
