Global Rights Compliance (GRC) held a specialised training for prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG), particularly the Genocide Unit, focusing on the key investigative, legal, and prosecutorial aspects of building cases on the crime of genocide.
The session was led by Maksym Vishchyk, GRC’s Legal Advisor and Deputy Mobile Justice Team Lead, and Jeremy Pizzi, Legal Advisor at GRC.
The training forms part of GRC’s Mobile Justice Teams’ (MJTs) long-standing support to the OPG’s Genocide Unit and reflects our consistent efforts to promote a cohesive interpretation of the law of genocide, particularly within the Ukrainian context.
Through this initiative, GRC aims to empower Ukrainian prosecutors with effective tools and methodologies to navigate the vast amount of evidence collected across the country and to strengthen their capacity to investigate and potentially prosecute allegations of genocide in light of multiple challenges and complexities – both interpretative and technical – arising on the way.
GRC remains committed to supporting Ukrainian authorities in ensuring accountability for international crimes and advancing the implementation of best international law standards and practices in Ukraine’s justice process.
Maksym Vishchyk: “The law of genocide is one of the most complex legal areas in international criminal law. Over the decades, domestic and international jurisdictions have developed various approaches to interpreting the crime’s elements, some of which coexist in synergy, while others are in apparent contradiction. Our goal is to ensure that, in addition to robust investigative and case-building techniques, Ukrainian prosecutors are equipped with the most holistic approaches to interpreting the law, tailored specifically to the context of Russian atrocities in Ukraine.”
Jeremy Pizzi: “Since the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s investigative authorities have collected vast amounts of evidence from previously or currently occupied territories. Now they face a critical juncture – to catalogue, map, and analyse the main trends arising from these evidentiary materials. Our goal is to provide the tools through which Ukrainian justice actors may accurately define unlawful conduct perpetrated by Russian forces and officials. Step-by-step, incident-by-incident, the objective remains no less than rigorous accountability for mass atrocity.”
GRC MJTs operate as part of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA). The ACA is a multilateral initiative established by the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States to support and assist Ukrainian law enforcement and prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed during a full-scale war.