The scale and gravity of core international crimes committed in Ukraine place these crimes within the purview of the entire international community, underscoring the global imperative to act. While Ukraine bears the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute core international crimes as the State most directly affected, it also shares a broader responsibility with the international community to ensure accountability. This shared responsibility underscores the necessity of collaboration between Ukraine and third States, leveraging universal jurisdiction as a vital tool to achieve justice for victims and deter future violations of international law.
In view of this common impetus to act, GRC developed the ‘Practitioners’ Handbook on Extraterritorial or Universal Jurisdiction to Pursue Accountability for International Crimes Committed in Ukraine’. The Handbook aims to serve as a tailored tool for prosecutors, investigators and civil society organisations engaged in seeking accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine, by helping them navigate universal jurisdiction laws and practice, bring cases before relevant domestic authorities and engage in judicial cooperation. It includes 13 country profiles spotlighting domestic laws and practices most relevant to the Ukrainian context, thus aiming to foster positive complementarity between Ukrainian and foreign judicial authorities.
It has been prepared under GRC’s project ‘Support to Ukrainian National Prosecutors and CSOs in Building Strategic Cases under Universal Jurisdiction‘, part of the ‘Restoring Dignity and Justice in Ukraine’ consortium programme, focusing on advancing accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine. The programme is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is implemented by the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), in partnership with the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC), and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC).