Law should clearly define treason, war crimes, collaboration – lawyer
Legislation should clearly distinguish between war crimes and crimes related to collaborationism in accordance with international law, according to Inna Liniova, director of the Human Rights Institute of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA).
"Our legislation in this regard is not ideal. Many criminal offenses overlap, and there is no clear distinction between what constitutes treason, what constitutes collaborationism, and what constitutes a war crime. These categories need to be more clearly differentiated in line with international law. The Prosecutor General's Office is currently working on drafting legislation that would comprehensively and systematically bring Ukraine's Criminal Procedure Code into compliance with the Rome Statute," she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Liniova noted that "a database of court rulings in war crimes cases is currently being prepared, and these decisions will be available in a separate registry with English translations."
"The entire international community is now closely watching these categories of cases. And if there are issues here, this could create problems for us in terms of European integration and accession to the EU. That is why I emphasize that this is a very important issue for Ukraine," the lawyer said.