The Verkhovna Rada has ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The corresponding bill No. 0285 on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and amendments to it as a whole was voted for by 281 MPs at the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday, Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the European Solidarity faction, said in a Telegram message on Wednesday.
Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute with declarations on the procedure for relations with the ICC and for seven years after the Rome Statute enters into force “does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over its citizens for crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute” (war crimes).
The draft law confirms Ukraine’s recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes since November 21, 2013, and declares recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression since July 17, 2018 (the date of entry into force of the amendments adopted by the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in Kampala on the crime of aggression).
As noted in the explanatory note to the draft law, ratification of the Rome Statute will allow Ukraine to become a full member of the International Criminal Court. After the Rome Statute enters into force, Ukraine will participate in the work of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute and will be able to submit candidates for the election of judges and prosecutors to the ICC. Membership in the Rome Statute will help prevent and deter the commission of particularly serious crimes in the future. Ukraine will be able to effectively cooperate with the ICC, which will help ensure that those responsible for particularly serious crimes that are of concern to the international community are punished.
