Expert Roundtable:
Presentation of Draft Legislation for a High War Crimes Court for Ukraine
Ініціатива лідерства думок PILPG Експертний круглий стіл: Презентація проекту законодавства про Вищий суд з воєнних злочинів в Україні
Event Recordings in Ukrainian and English
Ukrainian
English
Event Description
We invite you to join PILPG’s Expert Working Group for Ukraine on July 22 from 12 pm to 1 pm EDT for a presentation of its draft legislation for a High War Crimes Court of Ukraine to investigate and prosecute those allegedly responsible for atrocity crimes committed in Ukraine since November 2013. This discussion draft intends to inform the formulation of a domestic prosecutorial mechanism that will complement the efforts by existing domestic courts, the ICC, and any future hybrid international tribunal for the crime of aggression. During this roundtable, PILPG’s working group consisting of international and Ukrainian experts will present and discuss the draft legislation.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine, launching a new phase of Russian aggression against Ukraine that started in February 2014. This invasion has thus far led to thousands of civilian deaths and massive destruction of Ukrainian cities. The Russian military and the insurgents it supports have been committing numerous atrocity crimes, for which there is an urgent need to initiate widespread prosecutions. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation and will ultimately prosecute a handful of high-level perpetrators of atrocity crimes committed in Ukraine, but does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. There are proposals to establish a hybrid international or regional tribunal to prosecute high-level Russians for the crime of aggression currently under discussion. Because these international mechanisms are designed to prosecute a small number of perpetrators, there is recognition that most of the perpetrators will need to be prosecuted by domestic courts in Ukraine. But without international assistance and involvement it is inherently difficult to fairly and effectively prosecute foreign nationals and insurgents in domestic courts during and in the aftermath of an armed conflict.
To address this gap and facilitate fair and effective accountability for the atrocity crimes committed in Ukraine, PILPG, together with Weil Gotshal & Manges and in consultations with stakeholders in Ukraine, prepared draft legislation for a High War Crimes Court for Ukraine to prosecute atrocity crimes. The legislation is modeled after the High Anti-Corruption Court for Ukraine that was established in 2019 and best practices of internationalized domestic war crimes courts around the globe. The legislation has been revised during a series of workshops with international and Ukrainian experts. This event will be the first public presentation of the draft legislation. During the session, the experts and drafters of the legislation will discuss the need to establish such a court and provide an overview of the essential provisions of the legislation. This event will be moderated by PILPG Founder Dr. Paul R. Williams.
This event is part of the PILPG Thought Leadership Initiative. The Initiative focuses on prominent international law and international affairs topics and organizes monthly expert roundtables to share expertise and reflections from our work on peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and war crimes prosecution.
This expert roundtable is part of our Ukraine Series, a series which aims to discuss recent developments in the Ukraine-Russia war, ponder complex legal questions related to those developments, and inform audiences of important international legal principles. As part of this series, PILPG holds expert roundtables every other Friday from 12-1 pm Eastern Time.
Опис події
Експертна робоча група PILPG запрошує вас 22 липня о 19:00 за Київським часом доєднатися до презентації проекту законодавства про Вищий суд з воєнних злочинів в Україні для розслідування та притягнення до відповідальності осіб, підозрюваних у воєнних злочинах, скоєних в Україні після лютого 2014 року. Презентація проекту цього законодавства має на меті поінформувати про формування національного механізму обвинувачення, який доповнить зусилля існуючих національних судів, МКС та будь-якого майбутнього гібридного міжнародного трибуналу щодо злочину агресії. Під час цього круглого столу робоча група PILPG, що складається з міжнародних та українських експертів, представить та обговорить проект.
24 лютого 2022 року Президент Росії Владімір Путін віддав наказ про повномасштабне вторгнення в Україну, започаткувавши новий етап російської агресії проти України, яка почалася в лютому 2014 року. Наразі це вторгнення призвело до тисяч загиблих серед мирного населення та масового руйнування українських міст. Російські військові та сепаратисти, яких вони підтримують, вчиняють численні жорстокі злочини, які мають бути нагально розслідувані та покарані судами. Міжнародний кримінальний суд розпочав розслідування та зрештою притягне до відповідальності високопоставлених винуватців воєнних злочинів, скоєних в Україні, але цей суд не має юрисдикції щодо злочину агресії. Зараз обговорюються пропозиції щодо створення гібридного міжнародного або регіонального трибуналу для судового переслідування високопоставлених росіян за злочин агресії. Оскільки ці міжнародні механізми розроблені для переслідування невеликої кількості винних, більшість винуватців повинні бути притягнуті до відповідальності все ж національними судами в Україні. Але без міжнародної підтримки важко справедливо й ефективно притягнути до відповідальності іноземних громадян і сепаратистів у національних судах під час та після збройного конфлікту.
Щоб усунути цю прогалину та сприяти справедливому та ефективному притягненню до відповідальності винних за воєнні злочини, скоєні в Україні, PILPG разом з Weil Gotshal & Manges та, консультуючись з партнерами в Україні, підготували проект законодавства Вищий суд з воєнних злочинів в Україні для розслідування воєнних злочинів. Проект розроблено за зразком моделі Вищого антикорупційного суду в Україні, який було створено у 2019 році, та найкращих практик міжнародних судів у справах про воєнні злочини. Законодавство було доопрацьовано під час серії обговорень за участю міжнародних та українських експертів. Цей захід стане першою публічною презентацією проекту законодавства. Під час презентації експерти та розробники цього проекту законодавства обговорять необхідність створення такого суду та нададуть огляд основних положень проекту. Захід модеруватиме керуючий директор PILPG, професор Мілена Стеріо.
Цей захід є частиною Ініціативи лідерства думок PILPG. Ініціатива зосереджується на яскравих темах міжнародного права та міжнародних відносин та включає щомісячні круглі столи експертів для обміну досвідом та думками на різні теми щодо мирних переговорів, постконфліктного врегулювання та переслідування воєнних злочинців. Цей експертний круглий стіл є частиною Української серії PILPG, метою якої є обговорення останніх подій під час російського вторгнення в Україну, розгляд складних правових питань, пов’язаних із вторгненням, та інформування аудиторії про важливі міжнародно-правові принципи. У рамках цієї серії PILPG проводить круглі столи експертів кожну другу п’ятницю з 19:00 до 20:00 за Київським часом.
Speakers
Dean Michael P. Scharf
Dean Michael P. Scharf is the Co-Founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). He is also the Co-Dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the Joseph C. Hostetler—BakerHostetler Professor of Law.
Scharf has led USAID-funded transitional justice projects in Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya, and Turkey (for Syria), and maritime piracy projects in Kenya, Mauritius, and The Seychelles. During a sabbatical in 2008, Scharf served as Special Assistant to the Prosecutor of the Cambodia Genocide Tribunal and during the elder Bush and Clinton Administrations, he served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, where he held the positions of Attorney- Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence, Attorney-Adviser for United Nations Affairs, and delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
A graduate of Duke University School of Law (Order of the Coif and High Honors), and judicial clerk to Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat on the Eleventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, Scharf is the author of over 100 scholarly articles and 20 books, four of which have won national book of the year honors. A past recipient of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law Alumni Association's "Distinguished Teacher Award" and Ohio Magazine's "Excellence in Education Award," Scharf continues to teach International Law and was ranked as among the most cited authors in the field since 2010 by the 2016 and 2019 Sisk/Leiter studies. Since 2013, Scharf has been the producer and host of "Talking Foreign Policy," a radio program broadcast on WCPN 90.3 FM and other NPR affiliates across the country. Scharf was recently elected President-elect of the American Branch of the International Law Association.
Glenda Bleiberg
Glenda Bleiberg is a consultant in Weil’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. She is a common and civil law trained attorney with widespread global proficiency.
Glenda has extensive experience in matters involving international law. She has represented clients from Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East in Investor-State, State-State, and commercial arbitrations before the major international institutions, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Moreover, Glenda has particularly deep experience in the oil and gas sector, having worked in the industry and represented various clients in significant energy-related disputes. She has also worked on various trade remedy cases in the United States and Venezuela.
In addition, Glenda advises a diverse pool of clients on trade compliance issues (such as economic sanctions) in the context of strategic business matters and M&A transactions.
Glenda’s active pro bono practice spans a variety of international law and human rights issues including treaty conflicts, constitutional rights in the context of peace agreements, environmental issues, elderly rights, international criminal persecution, and prisoner treatment. Recently, she worked with the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture on two studies of solitary confinement practices around the world. She further researched and wrote about the practice of solitary confinement as part of a Weil team that submitted an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case, Ziglar v. Abbasi.
Glenda received her J.D., cum laude, from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello Caracas. She also has a Master’s degree in International Commercial Law from Université Paris X (Nanterre) and a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Glenda is admitted to practice in New York, the Supreme Court of the United States, and Venezuela, and is admitted as a Special Legal Consultant under the DC Bar Rules.
Ambassador Stephen Rapp
Ambassador Stephen Rapp is a Senior Peace Fellow at PILPG. He is a Senior Visiting Fellow of Practice with the Blavatnik School’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict’s Programme on International Peace and Security. He also currently serves as Distinguished Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Prevention of Genocide, and as Chair of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, which has collected and analysed more than 750,000 pages of documentation from Syria and Iraq to prepare cases for future prosecution.
From 2009 to 2015, he was Ambassador-at-Large heading the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the US State Department. During his tenure, he traveled more than 1.5 million miles to 87 countries to engage with victims, civil society organizations, investigators and prosecutors, and the leaders of governments and international bodies to further efforts to bring the perpetrators of mass atrocities to justice.
Ambassador Rapp was the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2009, where he led the prosecution of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. From 2001 to 2007, he served as Senior Trial Attorney and Chief of Prosecutions at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where he headed the trial team that achieved the first convictions in history of leaders of the mass media for the crime of direct and public incitement to commit genocide.
Before becoming an international prosecutor, he was the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa from 1993 to 2001.
He received a BA degree from Harvard, a JD degree from Drake, and several honorary degrees from US universities in recognition of his work for international criminal justice.
Ievgenii Iaroshenko
Ievgenii Iaroshenko is an analyst and advocacy officer at CrimeaSOS, a leading Ukrainian NGO which monitors developments in Crimea and provides various types of assistance to victims of human rights violations in the occupied territory. Ievgenii monitors violations of human rights, international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Crimea. In particular, he contributed to thematic reports on enforced disappearances in Crimea, detention conditions of Crimean political prisoners and Crimea’s environmental deterioration. He also advocates Crimean issues at international level and is a member of the Crimea Platform Expert Network.
Previously, Ievgenii worked at Ukrainian think tanks (International Centre for Policy Studies, Democracy House) where he analyzed developments in Donbas and Crimea.
Professor Dr. Tеtyana Antsupova
Prof. Dr. Tetyana Antsupova is a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ukraine (since 2017). On May 2019 she was elected to the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Before her appointment she was a Head of the Department of International and Comparative Law of International Humanitarian University (Odesa); professor of the European Union Law and Comparative Law Department of National University “Odesa Law Academy” and the Department of International Law of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She has secured several courses, inter alia, ”The Council of Europe Law" and "The European Union Law" within the master's programs for Ukrainian-speaking and English-speaking students. Tetyana is a member of: European Society of International Law (ESIL); All-Ukrainian Association of Women-Judges; Ukrainian European Studies Association. She is a Board member of the Ukrainian Association of International Law. She is a member of the Editorial Boards of “Comparative Law Review” (Poland), electronic journal “Bulletin of the Supreme Court” (Ukraine) and the “Ukrainian Journal of International Law.”
Rasim Babanly
Rasim Babanly is the Head of the Department of Analytical and Legal Work of the Supreme Court dealing with civil and criminal cases. Prior, he worked as a researcher at the Department of Criminal Law, Criminology, and the Judiciary of the Institute of State and Law named after V.M. Koretsky of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He has graduated from the Kyiv Institute of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. (edited)
MODERATOR
Dr. Paul R. Williams
Dr. Paul R. Williams holds the Rebecca I. Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and at the Washington College of Law. Dr. Williams is also the co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and the prosecution of war criminals. As a world renowned peace negotiation lawyer, Dr. Williams has assisted over two dozen parties in major international peace negotiations and has advised numerous parties on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. Several of Dr. Williams' pro bono government clients throughout the world joined together to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Williams has served as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as an Attorney-Adviser for European and Canadian affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Williams is a sought-after international law and policy expert. He is frequently interviewed by major print and broadcast media and regularly contributes op-eds to major newspapers. Dr. Williams has authored six books on various topics concerning international law, and has published over three dozen scholarly articles on topics of international law and policy. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on a number of occasions relating to specific peace processes, transitional justice, and self-determination. Dr. Williams is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and has served as a Counsellor on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. In 2019, Paul was awarded the Cox International Law Center's Humanitarian Award for Advancing Global Justice. More information about Dr. Williams can be found at www.drpaulrwilliams.com.