How can victims in Ukraine be heard before the International Criminal Court: Guide for Survivors and Affected Communities to Understand the ICC Proceedings and their rights before the ICC [EN/RU/UK]

What is the International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent international court that investigates, prosecutes, and tries individuals accused of international crimes (war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression). The treaty (legal agreement between countries) creating the International Criminal Court – the Rome Statute – contains definitions of these crimes:

• War crimes are grave violations of the Geneva conventions in the context of armed conflict. They include, for example, the use of child soldiers; the killing or torture of civilians or prisoners of war; intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, historic monuments, or other protected objects.
• Crimes against humanity are serious violations committed as part of a large-scale attack against any civilian population. They can include acts such as murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, enslavement, sexual slavery, torture, apartheid, and deportation.
• Genocide is characterised by any of the following acts committed with the specific intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life intended to bring about its physically destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
• The crime of aggression is the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, integrity or independence of another State.

As of September 2024, 124 countries are members (“State parties”) of the ICC. These countries have agreed that the ICC can try crimes that either happened on their territory or were committed by their nationals. The Court’s power to deal with a particular case is referred to as its “jurisdiction.”

Ukraine and ICC membership

At the time of the drafting of this guide, Ukraine is not a member State of the ICC. However, Ukraine has agreed to the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes falling within the ICC jurisdiction that have been committed on its territory. On 21st August 2024, the Ukrainian parliament voted to ratify the Rome Statute, paving the way for Ukraine to become a full member of the ICC. On 22 October 2024, Ukraine’s President signed a law amending Ukraine’s Criminal Code in line with the Rome Statute provisions, which means that Ukraine can soon complete the ratification process and become a full-fledged member of the ICC. At the time of drafting this guide, the ratification has not come into force.