A high-level coalition of legal experts, diplomats and policymakers convened in Geneva during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC61) to explore and discuss synergies between international initiatives with the purpose of advancing and ensuring accountability for crimes committed in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Particular focus was given to the full establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (STCA).
The International Bar Association (IBA)-led side event at the UNHRC61 was co-organised with the Permanent Missions of Ukraine , the Kingdom of the Netherlands , Moldova and the Council of Europe . A further 25 UN Member States and the European Union delegation co-sponsored.
The main areas of discussion included establishing practical avenues for cooperation between international institutions to strengthen the collective response to impunity, including evidence sharing, complementarity with ongoing investigations and alignment with mechanisms such as the UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine .
Contextualised key takeaways:
- broad international backing is consolidating around the creation of the STCA;
- legal and diplomatic actors are actively coordinating to align mandates and avoid duplication across accountability mechanisms; and
- the STCA initiative, within the framework of the Council of Europe , is grounded in established international legal frameworks and complementary to the International Criminal Court .
IBA President Claudio Visco stated: 'Never before as today, must the international community act decisively to ensure that those responsible for initiating an unlawful war are held to account. Accountability for the crime of aggression is not optional - it is foundational to the credibility of international law and to ensuring maintenance of international order.'
IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis commented: 'Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine constitutes one of the most egregious violations of international law since the Second World War. The Special Tribunal is an essential element of the legal response. While the architecture for accountability is now in place, it requires coordinated action, political will and sustained commitment to become fully operational. The event at UNHRC61 demonstrated that the international community is moving from principle to practical implementation.'
In an op-ed published in Just Security - titled From Commitment to Action: The Next Steps in Holding Russia's Leaders Accountable for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine - the authors, Iryna Mudra , Ambassador Anton Korynevych and Dr Ellis address the establishment of the STCA and reference the IBA's role in this effort.
Opening the UNHRC61 side event, H E Mr Vladimir Cuc, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Moldova to the UN in Geneva, underscored the urgency of coordinated legal action. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr Ellis and featured leading experts including Ms Irene Suominen-Picht, Deputy-Head of the Accountability for Ukraine Unit, Directorate-General Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe; Ambassador Korynevych, Director of the Department of International Law and Legal Counteraction to Aggression of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Mr Erik Møse, Chair of the Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine; and Mr Arjen Uijterlinde, Special Envoy for the Special Tribunal, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. H E Mr Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, also participated.
The legal mandate underpinning the STCA, designed to address the crime of aggression - a leadership crime not fully prosecutable for the situation in Ukraine under existing jurisdictional constraints of the International Criminal Court - was front and centre of discussions.
For the past four years, from the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion, the IBA has actively spoken out in support of Ukraine, provided technical legal assistance to the nation and has advocated for the STCA.
