Chisinau meeting will act as catalyst for more countries joining agreement on tribunal for aggression – IBA Executive Director
The conclusion of the Enlarged Partial Agreement at the meeting of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in Moldova will allow for the launch of all mechanisms of the special tribunal for the crime of aggression and will serve as a catalyst for even more countries to join, international law expert and International Bar Association (IBA) Executive Director Mark Ellis says.
"Firstly, the very fact of the tribunal’s creation is already an extremely important achievement; nothing like this has happened since Nuremberg. The number of countries that have united for the sake of creating the tribunal is a major milestone for Ukraine and all of Europe," Ellis said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the conclusion of the Enlarged Partial Agreement will allow for the launch of all the tribunal’s mechanisms.
"The expectation is the meeting on May 14-15 in Moldova, where a large number of countries—there will be 23 or 24 by then—will announce that they are joining this agreement. The signing of this document will be another key step and will make this tribunal a reality," Ellis emphasized.
He stressed that there is political will from states regarding the launch of the tribunal’s work, which is "key for launching the tribunal and establishing justice."
"Why is this next step in Moldova so important? Because it will become a catalyst for even more countries joining the enlarged agreement," the international law expert noted.
Responding to whether the tribunal’s actual work could be expected before the end of this year, Ellis said: "Partially, yes. The next step will be the creation of the tribunal’s operational framework, rather than immediate judicial proceedings. The subsequent step will be the approval of the tribunal’s rules and procedures—from defining the court premises to selecting judges and prosecutors. This is called the ‘Skeleton Tribunal’."
"Currently, it is difficult to say exactly when the tribunal will work in the sense of direct prosecution for aggression. I would refrain from specifying timeframes because we have to go through a large number of steps, and there may be delays. I think we should focus on the specific steps already taken. It is important that we are not saying ‘if,’ but ‘when’ the tribunal will start its actual work," the IBA Executive Director concluded.