On October 21, 2022, the webinar "Establishment of the Special Tribunal on the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine: an urgent measure for restoration of the rule of law" was held.

Anna Ogrenchuk, UBA President, Sherry Levin Wallach, NYSBA President, Oleksandr Kachura, Ukrainian MP, Professor David M. Crane, former Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Founder of the Global Accountability Network, Ambassador Hans Corell, Former Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Ambassador David J. Scheffer, International Francqui Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium (Spring 2022), Professor of Practice, Arizona State University, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, Prof. Jennifer Trahan, Clinical Professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and Director of their Concentration in International Law and Human Rights, Prof. Irwin Cotler, International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, an Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and long-time Member of Parliament, and an international human rights lawyer, spoke at the event.

Anton Korynevych, Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Agent of Ukraine before the International Court of Justice, also spoke through a video appeal.

Prof. Milena Sterio, Professor of Law at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Managing Director at the PILPG, moderated the event.

Starting the discussion, UBA President Anna Ogrenchuk noted that, except for military response, the only mechanism that is able to stop this horror is the mechanism of accountability under international law. The Special Tribunal is an integral and irreplaceable part of this mechanism – it would send a clear signal that justice will be served, and will strip President Putin of his status, influence and support.  

A number of issues were raised during the event, in particular:

• Basis for the establishment of the Special Tribunal: UN, EU, CoE or ad hoc international agreement
• Mandate, composition and other questions of establishment of the Tribunal
• First steps and key milestones
• Major issues in the establishment of the Tribunal. How do we overcome them?
• Stance of the legal community: presentation of resolutions of UBA, NYSBA and ABA

We invite you to watch the webinar at the link.

Co-organisers: the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), Global Accountability Network (GAN), the International Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA International).

Useful materials:

• Considerations for the Setting up of The Special Tribunal for Ukraine on the Crime of Aggression
• PROPOSAL FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND ACCOMPANYING PROPOSAL FOR A STATUTE OF A SPECIAL TRIBUNAL FOR UKRAINE ON THE CRIME OF AGGRESSION, 7 September 2022
• A Moment in History. Hans Corell, Irwin Cotler, David Crane
• Bringing Putin to Justice and the Lessons of History. Policy Magazine