Towards accountability for the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine

Thus, following the full-scale invasion commenced in February 2022, academics and former politicians began discussing means of closing this jurisdictional gap by creating for example a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Committed against Ukraine (STCoA). The proposals include international, internationalized / hybrid, as well as domestic courts and tribunals. The idea of creating the STCoA was taken over by states and in January 2023, the Core Group of States on establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine met in Prague, Czech Republic, and debated the topic. 

The conference will gather academics and practitioners focusing on International Criminal Law in order to discuss the possible categories of STCoA and their implications, particularly on the (non)applicability of immunities from foreign criminal jurisdiction and other important aspects. 

Since the proposal to establish the STCoA is a complementary topic to amendments of the Rome Statute that would close the jurisdictional gap for general purposes, the Prague conference will be the second event of a twin conference project of the University of Vienna and the Charles University (Prague) focusing on current legal developments in the enforcement of the crime of aggression and other crimes under international law. The Vienna conference on amendments, commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, called ‘Towards one comprehensive jurisdictional regime for all crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court’, will take place between 06. – 7. October 2023.