Ukraine should establish a training center for its own experts at the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Oleksiy Shevchuk, a partner at Barristers LLC.
“Ukraine must provide systematic expertise and professionals capable of working effectively within the ICC’s structure. Ukraine should establish a training center for experts to work in international judicial bodies, primarily the ICC, as international criminal law will be one of the defining areas of 21st-century politics,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
As Shevchuk noted, the ICC currently needs a wide range of experts who can support its operations.
“There are positions for OSINT coordinators, language analysts, financial experts, evidence management specialists, and even cyber intelligence specialists. The Court is a massive organization. And for it to function, dozens of highly qualified specialists in various fields are needed. Unfortunately, there are very few such people in Ukraine. If we can find 10 people ready to start working in The Hague tomorrow—that would be an optimistic forecast,” he said.
At the same time, Shevchuk noted that Ukraine has a strong tradition of ECHR practice, but the ICC is a different world; it has a different procedural logic, a different role for evidence, and a different mechanism for gathering information.
“The Court requires practical skills in international criminal proceedings, an understanding of military operations, and language proficiency at the level of technical translation of international terminology. It is a highly specialized environment,” he added.
Commenting on steps toward establishing a training center for ICC specialists, Shevchuk said that such a center should have several areas of focus: a program for training practicing lawyers (investigators, prosecutors, attorneys), a program for training technical and analytical staff (OSINT specialists, evidence managers, translators, data auditors, etc.), and a program for language and ethics training adapted to The Hague standards.
“We have a strong academic base in Ukraine, but researchers also need a team capable of integrating into the court’s practical work tomorrow. Canada established the Canadian Centre for International Justice, which trains lawyers and analysts specifically for international tribunals. Ukraine needs something similar—a partnership between universities, government agencies, and the ICC itself. This could be a joint initiative of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, academic institutions, and civil society organizations,” said Shevchuk.
“In the coming decades, the focus will definitely shift toward The Hague—and Ukraine needs real experts, not just symbolic ones. This is not a matter of prestige, but of competence: either we train our own specialists, or others will do it for us,” the lawyer concluded.
Barristers, ICC, LAWYER, specialist, training center, ШЕВЧУК
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