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War in Ukraine: the United States proposes the creation of a “hybrid” tribunal to try Putin

2023-03-29T09:25:29.198Z


This court, which would bring together Ukraine and its Western allies, would make it possible to judge the Russian leaders on the basis of both Ukrainian law and international law. But this solution has flaws.


A " mixed

" tribunal

to judge the invasion of Ukraine and the Russian leaders?

The Biden administration has called for the creation of a special court to try the Kremlin assault, reports The

New York Times

.

This "

internationalized national court

" would be composed of Ukrainian judges, but also international ones.

It would be deeply rooted in the Ukrainian judicial system, but would include elements of international law.

He could thus establish himself outside Ukrainian territory, for example in The Hague.

"

We are committed to working with Ukraine and peace-loving countries around the world to promote, staff and fund such a tribunal, so as to achieve global accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine," he said

. defended Beth Van Schaack, the State Department's Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice, during a press conference at the Catholic University of Washington.

The pitfall of immunity

But this project has a significant flaw: Ukrainian law, like that of many countries, allows leaders still in activity to claim immunity.

If Vladimir Putin is judged by this court, his lawyers could therefore very well assert this privilege.

The legislator could then decide to make an exception, underlines the

New York Times

, but the defense of the Russian president would be able to judge this exception illegitimate.

Read alsoIn Ukraine, the atrocious litany of war crimes committed by Russian forces

During her press conference, Beth Van Schaack further expressed her reluctance to create a precedent, which could pave the way for a similar tribunal to prosecute American leaders.

Many former diplomats and academics argue for the establishment of a purely international judicial institution, on the model of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The latter does not bother with any immunity whatsoever for incumbent heads of state.

Vladimir Putin's lawyers would then have more difficulty invoking this privilege, given this precedent.

A proven model

The International Criminal Court, which earlier this month issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for illegally deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, has no jurisdiction to prosecute the crime of 'aggression' .

A new jurisdiction would then have to be created from scratch.

Read alsoArrest warrant against Putin: what we know about the “deportations” of Ukrainian children

However, the immense advantage of the “hybrid” model lies in its speed of implementation, underlines with

New York Times

Harold Hongju Koh, professor at the faculty of right of Yale, who was one of the best lawyers of the department of law. state of the Obama administration.

The fact that it would be based on Ukrainian legal services already in place would considerably facilitate its effectiveness.

In addition, this model has already worked, for the trial of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, in Cambodia, recalls the lawyer.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-03-29

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