Another empty promise?

Will a new tribunal tasked with holding Russia accountable for the Ukraine war be effective, asks Yvonne Breitwieser-Faria

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Earlier this year, the European Union, the Council of Europe, Ukraine and an international coalition of states agreed to establish a new special tribunal.

The tribunal will eventually be tasked with holding Russia accountable for the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It's expected to start operating in 2026.

Human rights organisations, international lawyers and some (mostly European) states have long been calling for the establishment of such a tribunal. Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer, called the establishment of the tribunal "an important breakthrough for the international justice community and especially for the millions of Ukrainians who have been harmed by the Russian aggression." However, important questions remain about if it could truly hold senior Russian officials accountable.

So, how will this new special tribunal work, and will it be effective - or necessary? This tribunal is separate to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICC can prosecute individuals charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Russian war on Ukraine. So far, it has issued arrest warrants against four Russian senior officials, including President Vladimir Putin.

Because Russia is not a member state to the court, the court can't exercise legal authority over what's known in international law as a crime of aggression (when leaders of a state launch or plan a war). For the ICC to be able to exercise this jurisdiction, the aggressor state also must be a member state of the court.