Чи можливо притягнути винних осіб до кримінальної відповідальності за злочин агресії проти України?

Abstract

Розглянуто питання процесуальної можливості та необхідності притягнення до кримінальної відповідальності винних осіб за злочин агресії проти України. З огляду на це, наведено різні види юрисдикцій міжнародних судових установ, а також з’ясовано, чи поширюються такі види юрисдикцій на збройний конфлікт, що триває на Сході України. Досліджено питання про можливість притягнення до відповідальності за злочин агресії Міжнародним кримінальним судом. The article reveals the issues of the procedural possibility and the necessity of bringing the guilty persons to criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. Domestic and foreign lawyers recognize the particularly grave nature of responsibility for such an international crime as aggression. Such international crimes as aggression could not have taken place without the participation of the state or states, without their planned actions and the express will and intent to commit certain acts and achieve concrete goals. For the implementation of aggression, it is necessary to involve armed forces of at least one state, which must be located and operate under the centralized, organized command of that state (represented by the relevant public authorities). Consequently, the commission of aggression is impossible without the involvement of practically the whole state apparatus, and thus the society of the state as a whole, taking into account modern mechanisms of representation of the authorities. In addition, acts constituting and leading to a crime of aggression are determined and supported by a state policy that is consistent with the strategic goals of the foreign policy and geopolitics of this state. For the most part, the question of bringing to criminal responsibility of the leaders of an aggressor state was being researched in terms of the correctness and accuracy of the qualification of the actions of the guilty persons. However, this issue, due to its relevance, requires a more in-depth study. In particular, it is important to determine the procedural possibility of criminal prosecution for aggression; the analysis also requires to determine the legal content of the jurisdiction of international judicial institutions, in particular, the International Criminal Court. In this regard, the article refers to the various types of jurisdictions of international judicial institutions, thus analyzing whether such types of jurisdictions extend to an armed conflict that continues in the East of Ukraine. Traditionally, the following components of the jurisdiction of international judicial institutions are distinguished as: a) Ratione materiae – outlines a range of issues (in this case, crimes) that are subject to the jurisdiction of the court; b) Ratione personae – defines a circle of persons, whose cases may be tried and which may be brought to justice; c) Ratione temporis – refers to the time frame within which the act under investigation should have been committed; d) Ratione loci – refers to the territorial prevalence of the Statute of the relevant international judicial body. The issue of the possibility of bringing to justice for the crime of aggression by the International Criminal Court is also analyzed.