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Institute of New Europe Institute of New Europe
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Apr 25
Analysis, Human rights, Publications, Russia, Ukraine, UN

The war in Ukraine and international law – what causes its ineffectiveness?

April 25, 2022

Translation: Kamil Golemo.

From the beginning of the prohibited by international law aggression of the Russian Federation against the sovereign state – Ukraine – most people ask themselves about the reaction of international institutions that should maintain international peace and security. Although it is not the first war (armed conflict, in accordance with the terminology used in international humanitarian law of armed conflicts) since the establishment of the United Nations and international tribunals, it is vain to expect the effectiveness of international criminal law and the establishment of justice for the perpetrators of war crimes.

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Karim A.A. Khan, announced on Wednesday, March 2nd, that he launched an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine. What is worth emphasizing, is that Poland was one of the 39 states who put forward a motion in this case (ultimately 41 state applications were submitted). Thus, first of all, it is a proceeding “in the case” and not “against” it. Therefore, there is no question of indicating and publicly naming the perpetrator, and secondly, it is an examination of “possible crimes”, that is, the ICC only after years, or maybe decades, will judge whether what we see every day in the media and hear from Ukrainian war refugees, fleeing to Poland is, according to a legally binding court ruling, a war crime, or a crime against humanity.

The question that immediately arises, refers to the punishment that the perpetrator of the crimes in Ukraine could suffer. A person found guilty of a war crime may receive 30 years imprisonment or life sentence, depending on the gravity of the crime. The court, which is obvious in light of the human rights issues that apply even to such inhumane acts, cannot rule on the death penalty. Lots of international lawyers, including the author of this paper, believe that some of the ICC sentences were “too gentle” and that prison conditions for inmates are luxurious, which by no means gives rise to repentance or sorrow.

Regarding the ICC proceedings, it should be highlighted that the main obstacle is the fact that neither Ukraine nor Russia are parties to the Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court of 1998 (entered into force in 2002). Although the government in Kyiv signed the document, it has never ratified it into its own legal system, which means that it is not bound by its norms. However, there is a practical exception to this rule, as Ukraine has twice accepted the ICC’s powers to settle disputes, adopting the jurisdiction of the body “on an unlimited basis”. This means that Ukraine cannot itself put forward a motion, but the ICC, ex officio, has jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory.

As for the Russian Federation, the country withdrew from the ICC in 2016 shortly after the Court published a report classifying the Russian annexation of Crimea as an occupation. Since the state is not a party to the ICC, its natural persons, including the head of state, and military decision-makers, cannot be prosecuted for the 4 crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. These are genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. The only possibility to bring a non-party state before the is a UN Security Council resolution. Russia, as a permanent member of the Council, has veto power, so we also have “a legislative miss” here.

So far, not a single political leader of any state has been held criminally responsible in a trial before international criminal tribunals for war crimes

On February 27th, Ukraine brought a lawsuit against Russia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague. These two institutions should not be confused. The ICJ is a UN body, and it consists of Russian judges too. The Ukrainian motion included the charge that the invasion was carried out under the pretext of false claims of the genocide committed against Russian-speaking people in the country. However, also in this case, on March 16th, the ICJ issued a decision declaring Russia’s attack on Ukraine illegal, ordering Russia to halt the invasion. Due to the greatest weakness of international law, such a judgment has no component of sanctions or enforcement measures. It is therefore just a symbolic step that will not lead the perpetrators to punishment. It is worth adding that the result of the judges’ voting, in this case, was 10:2. These two are from Russia and China.

What about alternative methods of seeking international responsibility for crimes in Ukraine? There are two legal methods: universal criminal jurisdiction and ad hoc tribunal. The first one makes it possible for the state to prosecute individuals regardless of their nationality and then to proceed on its own territory (before the state courts) for crimes committed beyond the national jurisdiction. For the first time in history, this measure was used when Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in 1998 in London on charges of genocide and terrorism. Recently, in 2015 in Germany, two Rwandans accused of leading a rebel group in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were convicted of war crimes. What is worth adding is the fact that Russia also has its own norms on universal jurisdiction.

Finally, the last legal way is to establish an international criminal tribunal for Ukraine. However, this would be the goal of the states whereas there is no unanimity on the international stage, where even the issue of sanctions against Russia or their scope is a matter of political and economic disputes. After all, many Western media do not even use the word “war”, but only “situation”, “conflict”, and finally “what is happening in Ukraine”. Additionally, the President of the Russian Federation, like any head of state, is protected by immunity. He would have to resign from office (and it does not seem to happen) or be removed from it (very unlikely!), he would have to be extradited after the verdict “against” and not “in the case” (also will not take place), or to voluntarily go to a state that is a subject to the jurisdiction of the tribunal who would issue the sentence (again, a miss!).

Last but not least, the slow procedures of international criminal law should not be forgotten. The proceedings take decades, the perpetrators are able, what is logical, to escape, change their name, provide themselves with an alibi, or use international incompatibility in their own case, as it happened with (the current, sic!) President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta. So far, not a single political leader of the country has been held criminally responsible in a trial before international criminal tribunals for war crimes. Although it is extremely difficult to link the head of state with crimes committed by the armed forces of his country, it should be remembered that war crimes do not have a statute of limitations. The memory of the act, however, fades with the course of other international affairs, and the perpetrators of the crime will not live to see the charges against them, not to mention the reading of the conviction. This was the case with the former president of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Slobodan Milošević, who died in 2006 in Hague of a heart attack.

Will the Russian evasion of the responsibility for war crimes before international courts, then, contribute to the consideration of the issue of the effectiveness of legal solutions by the states who form international institutions? Will the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe initiate exclusions from other international organisations? Will there be any transformation in the largest intergovernmental organisation – UN – that bases (un)peace, (dis)order, and (in)stability in the world on the Big Five of the Security Council? If so, it will mean a new global order, where, hopefully, international law will be provided with relevant enforcement measures.

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dr Joanna Siekiera PhD Joanna Siekiera. International lawyer, Doctor of social sciences, postdoctor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway. She was a scholarship holder of the New Zealand government at the Victoria University of Wellington, Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Germany, Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques in France. She obtained certificates from the Russian School of Humanitarian Law, UN CIMIC Training School and NATO Stability Policing Center of Excellence.

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dr Joanna Siekiera PhD Joanna Siekiera. International lawyer, Doctor of social sciences, postdoctor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway. She was a scholarship holder of the New Zealand government at the Victoria University of Wellington, Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Germany, Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques in France. She obtained certificates from the Russian School of Humanitarian Law, UN CIMIC Training School and NATO Stability Policing Center of Excellence.
Program Europa tworzą:

Marcin Chruściel

Dyrektor programu. Absolwent studiów doktoranckich z zakresu nauk o polityce na Uniwersytecie Wrocławskim, magister stosunków międzynarodowych i europeistyki Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Prezes Zarządu Instytutu Nowej Europy.

dr Artur Bartoszewicz

Przewodniczący Rady Programowej Instytutu Nowej Europy. Doktor nauk ekonomicznych Szkoły Głównej Handlowej. Ekspert w dziedzinie polityki publicznej, w tym m. in. strategii państwa i gospodarki.

Michał Banasiak

Specjalizuje się w relacjach sportu i polityki. Autor analiz, komentarzy i wywiadów z zakresu dyplomacji sportowej i polityki międzynarodowej. Były dziennikarz Polsat News i wysłannik redakcji zagranicznej Telewizji Polskiej.

Maciej Pawłowski

Ekspert ds. migracji, gospodarki i polityki państw basenu Morza Śródziemnego. W latach 2018-2020 Analityk PISM ds. Południowej Europy. Autor publikacji w polskiej i zagranicznej prasie na temat Hiszpanii, Włoch, Grecji, Egiptu i państw Magrebu. Od września 2020 r. mieszka w północnej Afryce (Egipt, Algieria).

Jędrzej Błaszczak

Absolwent studiów prawniczych Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach. Jego zainteresowania badawcze koncentrują się na Inicjatywie Trójmorza i polityce w Bułgarii. Doświadczenie zdobywał w European Foundation of Human Rights w Wilnie, Center for the Study of Democracy w Sofii i polskich placówkach dyplomatycznych w Teheranie i Tbilisi.

Program Bezpieczeństwo tworzą:

dr Aleksander Olech

Dyrektor programu. Wykładowca na Baltic Defence College, absolwent Europejskiej Akademii Dyplomacji oraz Akademii Sztuki Wojennej. Jego główne zainteresowania badawcze to terroryzm, bezpieczeństwo w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej oraz rola NATO i UE w środowisku zagrożeń hybrydowych.

dr Agnieszka Rogozińska

Członek Rady Programowej Instytutu Nowej Europy. Doktor nauk społecznych w dyscyplinie nauki o polityce. Zainteresowania badawcze koncentruje na problematyce bezpieczeństwa euroatlantyckiego, instytucjonalnym wymiarze bezpieczeństwa i współczesnych zagrożeniach.

Aleksy Borówka

Doktorant na Wydziale Nauk Społecznych Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Przewodniczący Krajowej Reprezentacji Doktorantów w kadencji 2020. Autor kilkunastu prac naukowych, poświęconych naukom o bezpieczeństwie, naukom o polityce i administracji oraz stosunkom międzynarodowym. Laureat I, II oraz III Międzynarodowej Olimpiady Geopolitycznej.

Karolina Siekierka

Absolwentka Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego na kierunku stosunki międzynarodowe, specjalizacji Bezpieczeństwo i Studia Strategiczne. Jej zainteresowania badawcze obejmują politykę zagraniczną i wewnętrzną Francji, prawa człowieka oraz konflikty zbrojne.

Stanisław Waszczykowski

Podoficer rezerwy, student studiów magisterskich na kierunku Bezpieczeństwo Międzynarodowe i Dyplomacja na Akademii Sztuki Wojennej, były praktykant w BBN. Jego zainteresowania badawcze obejmują m.in. operacje pokojowe ONZ oraz bezpieczeństwo Ukrainy.

Leon Pińczak

Student studiów drugiego stopnia na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim na kierunku stosunki międzynarodowe. Dziennikarz polskojęzycznej redakcji Biełsatu. Zawodowo zajmuje się obszarem postsowieckim, rosyjską polityką wewnętrzną i doktrynami FR. Biegle włada językiem rosyjskim.

Program Indo-Pacyfik tworzą:

Łukasz Kobierski

Dyrektor programu. Współzałożyciel INE oraz prezes zarządu w latach 2019-2021. Stypendysta szkoleń z zakresu bezpieczeństwa na Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security w Waszyngtonie, ekspert od stosunków międzynarodowych. Absolwent Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego oraz Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika. Wiceprezes Zarządu INE.

dr Joanna Siekiera

Prawnik międzynarodowy, doktor nauk społecznych, adiunkt na Wydziale Prawa Uniwersytetu w Bergen w Norwegii. Była stypendystką rządu Nowej Zelandii na Uniwersytecie Victorii w Wellington, niemieckiego Institute of Cultural Diplomacy, a także francuskiego Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques.

Paweł Paszak

Absolwent stosunków międzynarodowych (spec. Wschodnioazjatycka) na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim oraz stypendysta University of Kent (W. Brytania) i Hainan University (ChRL). Doktorant UW i Akademii Sztuki Wojennej. Jego zainteresowania badawcze obejmują politykę zagraniczną ChRL oraz strategiczną rywalizację Chiny-USA.

Jakub Graca

Magister stosunków międzynarodowych na Uniwersytecie Jagiellońskim; studiował także filologię orientalną (specjalność: arabistyka). Analityk Centrum Inicjatyw Międzynarodowych (Warszawa) oraz Instytutu Nowej Europy. Zainteresowania badawcze: Stany Zjednoczone (z naciskiem na politykę zagraniczną), relacje transatlantyckie.

Patryk Szczotka

Absolwent filologii dalekowschodniej ze specjalnością chińską na Uniwersytecie Wrocławskim oraz student kierunku double degree China and International Relations na Aalborg University oraz University of International Relations (国际关系学院) w Pekinie. Jego zainteresowania naukowe to relacje polityczne i gospodarcze UE-ChRL oraz dyplomacja.

The programme's team:

Marcin Chruściel

Programme director. Graduate of PhD studies in Political Science at the University of Wroclaw and Master studies in International Relations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. President of the Management Board at the Institute of New Europe.

PhD Artur Bartoszewicz

Chairman of the Institute's Programme Board. Doctor of Economic Sciences at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. Expert in the field of public policy, including state and economic strategies. Expert at the National Centre for Research and Development and the Digital Poland Projects Centre.

Michał Banasiak

He specializes in relationship of sports and politics. Author of analysis, comments and interviews in the field of sports diplomacy and international politics. Former Polsat News and Polish Television’s foreign desk journalist.

Maciej Pawłowski

Expert on migration, economics and politics of Mediterranean countries. In the period of 2018-2020 PISM Analyst on Southern Europe. Author of various articles in Polish and foreign press about Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Maghreb countries. Since September 2020 lives in North Africa (Egypt, Algeria).

Jędrzej Błaszczak

Graduate of Law at the University of Silesia. His research interests focus on the Three Seas Initiative and politics in Bulgaria. He acquired experience at the European Foundation of Human Rights in Vilnius, the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia, and in Polish embassies in Tehran and Tbilisi.

PhD Aleksander Olech

Programme director. Visiting lecturer at the Baltic Defence College, graduate of the European Academy of Diplomacy and War Studies University. His main research interests include terrorism, international cooperation for security in Eastern Europe and the role of NATO and the EU with regard to hybrid threats.

PhD Agnieszka Rogozińska

Member of the Institute's Programme Board. Doctor of Social Sciences in the discipline of Political Science. Editorial secretary of the academic journals "Politics & Security" and "Independence: journal devoted to Poland's recent history". Her research interests focus on security issues.

Aleksy Borówka

PhD candidate at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Wroclaw, the President of the Polish National Associations of PhD Candidates in 2020. The author of dozen of scientific papers, concerning security studies, political science, administration, international relations. Laureate of the I, II and III International Geopolitical Olympiad.

Karolina Siekierka

Graduate of International Relations specializing in Security and Strategic Studies at University of Warsaw. Erasmus student at the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1) and the Institut d’Etudes Politique de Paris (Sciences Po Paris). Her research areas include human rights, climate change and armed conflicts.

Stanisław Waszczykowski

Reserve non-commissioned officer. Master's degree student in International Security and Diplomacy at the War Studies University in Warsaw, former trainee at the National Security Bureau. His research interests include issues related to UN peacekeeping operations and the security of Ukraine.

Leon Pińczak

A second-degree student at the University of Warsaw, majoring in international relations. A journalist of the Polish language edition of Belsat. Interested in the post-Soviet area, with a particular focus on Russian internal politics and Russian doctrines - foreign, defense and information-cybernetic.

Łukasz Kobierski

Programme director. Deputy President of the Management Board. Scholarship holder at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security in Washington and an expert in the field of international relations. Graduate of the University of Warsaw and the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

PhD Joanna Siekiera

International lawyer, Doctor of social sciences, postdoctor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway. She was a scholarship holder of the New Zealand government at the Victoria University of Wellington, Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Germany, Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques in France.

Paweł Paszak

Graduate of International Relations (specialisation in East Asian Studies) from the University of Warsaw and scholarship holder at the University of Kent (UK) and Hainan University (China). PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw and the War Studies University. His research areas include the foreign policy of China and the strategic rivalry between China and the US in the Indo-Pacific.

Jakub Graca

Master of International Relations at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He also studied Arabic therein. An analyst at the Center for International Initiatives (Warsaw) and the Institute of New Europe. Research interests: United States (mainly foreign policy), transatlantic relations.

Patryk Szczotka

A graduate of Far Eastern Philology with a specialization in China Studies at the University of Wroclaw and a student of a double degree “China and International Relations” at Aalborg University and University of International Relations (国际关系学院) in Beijing. His research interests include EU-China political and economic relations, as well as diplomacy.

Three Seas Think Tanks Hub is a platform of cooperation among different think tanks based in 3SI member countries. Their common goal is to strengthen public debate and understanding of the Three Seas region seen from the political, economic and security perspective. The project aims at exchanging ideas, research and publications on the region’s potential and challenges.

Members

The Baltic Security Foundation (Latvia)

The BSF promotes the security and defense of the Baltic Sea region. It gathers security experts from the region and beyond, provides a platform for discussion and research, promotes solutions that lead to stronger regional security in the military and other areas.

The Institute for Politics and Society (Czech Republic)

The Institute analyses important economic, political, and social areas that affect today’s society. The mission of the Institute is to cultivate the Czech political and public sphere through professional and open discussion.

Nézöpont Institute (Hungary)

The Institute aims at improving Hungarian public life and public discourse by providing real data, facts and opinions based on those. Its primary focus points are Hungarian youth, media policy and Central European cooperation.

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (Austria)

The wiiw is one of the principal centres for research on Central, East and Southeast Europe with 50 years of experience. Over the years, the Institute has broadened its expertise, increasing its regional coverage – to European integration, the countries of Wider Europe and selected issues of the global economy.

The International Institute for Peace (Austria)

The Institute strives to address the most topical issues of the day and promote dialogue, public engagement, and a common understanding to ensure a holistic approach to conflict resolution and a durable peace. The IIP functions as a platform to promote peace and non-violent conflict resolution across the world.

The Institute for Regional and International Studies (Bulgaria)

The IRIS initiates, develops and implements civic strategies for democratic politics at the national, regional and international level. The Institute promotes the values of democracy, civil society, freedom and respect for law and assists the process of deepening Bulgarian integration in NATO and the EU.

The European Institute of Romania

EIR is a public institution whose mission is to provide expertise in the field of European Affairs to the public administration, the business community, the social partners and the civil society. EIR’s activity is focused on four key domains: research, training, communication, translation of the EHRC case-law.

The Institute of New Europe (Poland)

The Institute is an advisory and analytical non-governmental organisation active in the fields of international politics, international security and economics. The Institute supports policy-makers by providing them with expert opinions, as well as creating a platform for academics, publicists, and commentators to exchange ideas.

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