In practice, the bill does not provide effective tools for the administration of effective justice.
If the amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, which were developed by the Cabinet of Ministers and already registered in the Verkhovna Rada, are adopted, it will be much more difficult to prosecute Russian army commanders. This was stated by an expert in international criminal law, Candidate of Law, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine in 2019-2021, Prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (2016-2019) Gunduz Mammadov.
According to the lawyer, this is the bill №7290 on amendments to the criminal and criminal procedural legislation of Ukraine in the field of international crimes.
“After analyzing it, I want to draw attention to the main In fact, the bill puts military commanders out of the reach of justice, as it excludes their responsibility for the actions of subordinates .and creates a separate corpus delicti, not related to the actions of subordinates. In practice, this will prevent the prosecution of Russian commanders, “he said.
On the other hand, Mammadov points out, the bill proposes to hold ordinary soldiers accountable. for crimes that, under international law, are the responsibility of the military leadership . He emphasizes the need to rethink the wording of the “crime of aggression” contained in the draft.
“According to the bill, for the crime of aggression can be prosecuted ordinary soldiers have no influence on the decision on state aggression. The crime of aggression is a crime of the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation, “the lawyer said.
At the same time, the bill provisions on universal jurisdiction that make it impossible to persecute foreigners who have committed international crimes.
“Calling on other states to help us investigate serious crimes, we cannot but profess these principles,” he said. p>
Mammadov also refers to the opinion of a colleague – director of the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group Nadezhda Volkova , who notes that in practice the bill does not provide effective tools for effective justice.
“The changes to the Criminal Code initiated by Shmygal will only delay justice,” she said. “Also read: Russia and illegal armed groups have committed more than 30,000 criminal offenses in Crimea and Donbass – Mammadov
In addition, Volkova draws attention to the fact that despite the ninth year of the war in Ukraine at the legislative level there are still discussions on changes to the Criminal Code of Ukraine concerning the most serious international crimes.
On May 20, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Implementation of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law” № 2689.
“On June 7 last year, the law was sent to President Zelensky for signature, but so far there is no news about the status of this document, despite numerous calls by human rights organizations to sign the bill, most recently after the atrocities of the Russian army in Bucha,” she said. p style = “text-align: justify;”> Read also: Isolation Charitable Foundation and human rights activists demand that Zelensky sign a law on war crimes
“For 10 months, the law has been signed by Bankova on the President's signature, while the Cabinet of Ministers introduced another bill, 7272, which largely copies the previous one, but also contains critical differences that will significantly impair the administration of justice for the most serious international crimes in Ukraine.” Nadiya Volkova notes.
Earlier, Deputy Prosecutor General Gunduz Mammadov reported that Ukrainian law enforcement is investigating more than 30,000 criminal offenses in more than 5,000 trials are all crimes related to armed conflict . According to him, they include almost nine and a half thousand people. Hundreds of Russian citizens are among them, including the top political and military leadership of the aggressor country.
How to punish the aggressor country? Who will judge the top leadership of the Russian Federation for violating international humanitarian and criminal law? Will those who sided with the aggressor and occupier be punished? What is Ukraine doing to make punishment inevitable? Read in the interview of Tatiana Silina with the Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Gunduz Mammadov .
