THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — With 281 votes in favor, the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that underpins the International Criminal Court.
The country had already given The Hague-based court jurisdiction permission to investigate crimes in Ukraine in 2013 but has now formally become a member.
“By taking this step, Ukraine demonstrates its unwavering commitment to strengthening international justice,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement.
Ukraine first signed the treaty in 2000 but had failed to ratify it. Named for the Italian city where it was adopted in 1998, the Rome Statute created the ICC and established core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
The ICC has had an investigation into crimes in Ukraine open since 2014. A pretrial chamber of judges, at the request of the court’s chief prosecutor, has issued arrest warrants for six top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin.
The country had faced significant pressure internally and externally to ratify the treaty. In an interview in his office in Kyiv earlier this year, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told Courthouse News Service he wanted his country to join the court.
“I’m for ratification of the Rome Statute,” he said, adding that the delay was a result of concerns over the prosecution of Ukrainian nationals.
The country did invoke an opt-out for some prosecutions but the move is legally murky. Under pressure from the French, the treaty includes a provision where countries can limit the prosecution of war crimes for the first seven years of membership.
Ukraine has included a provision which would prevent the prosecution of war crimes based on nationality. The court also has territorial jurisdiction so war crimes committed on Ukrainian soil would still be included but the move would exclude Ukrainian nationals from prosecution.
France and Colombia had previously included Article 124 exemptions but did not attempt to split the types of jurisdiction.
According to Kevin Jon Heller, a professor of international law at the University of Copenhagen, it’s not clear if the limitation is allowed. “Ultimately, it will be for the judges to decide,” he told Courthouse News.
Armenia became the court’s 124th member in February.