Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced recently that he had approved a decision to create a “special mechanism of justice in Ukraine” to investigate Russian “crimes” in Ukraine. The question now is what this special mechanism is and how it will fit with existing processes for ensuring accountability for crimes committed by Russia and its soldiers.
Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine was met with widespread condemnation as a breach of the international law prohibiting the use of force. In addition, in the conduct of the invasion, there have been allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (the branch of international law that regulates armed conflict), including alleged attacks on hospitals in Mariupol, use of cluster bombs in Mykolaiv and reports of summary executions of civilians. Calls for accountability for this conduct have come from around the world, and there are a number of ways in which Russia can be held responsible for its various violations of international law.
In response, existing international mechanisms are being employed to invoke Russia’s responsibility. These include cases brought by Ukraine against Russia before international courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Both of these courts have already indicated provisional measures, with the ICJ calling on Russia to suspend its military operations against Ukraine and the ECtHR calling for Russia to, among other things, refrain from military attacks against civilians.
