Ukraine has ratified the Rome Statute. Members of the Verkhovna Rada voted for the ratification of the Rome Statute by 281 votes (Bill No. 0285), Babel reports.
This was informed by member of parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The day before, the bill on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was supported by the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy.
What is the Rome Statute?
The Rome Statute is an international treaty that became the basis for the creation of the ICC and defined the list of crimes that the court has the right to investigate – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.
Ukraine has an obligation to ratify the Rome Statute in the Association Agreement with the European Union (Article 8).
It is known that this is one of the requirements for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
Ukraine has now become a full-fledged member of the International Criminal Court, which will facilitate access for Ukrainians to the ICC’s special Trust Fund for Victims, and this will increase the chances of obtaining compensation for victims of Russian crimes. It will also help protect the Ukrainian military.
The fact that the statute has been ratified does not mean that there is a risk of bringing Ukrainian military and other citizens to justice, as the ICC can already do so – Ukraine recognized its jurisdiction on November 21, 2013.
Now Ukraine will be able to defend its interests in the ICC, in particular by working in the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC, nominating its candidate for the position of judge and participating in the selection of judges and the prosecutor of the Court.
Ukraine was planning to ratify the statute with a declaration that the ICC would not have jurisdiction under Article 8 (war crimes) over Ukrainian citizens for 7 years after ratification.
