As it was stated by the Nuremberg Tribunal, the crime of aggression is the supreme international crime. The act of Russia’s aggression has led to an unimaginable scale of other international crimes. Leaving the perpetrators of this unprecedented crime unpunished while trying to hold to account the perpetrators of other crimes will lead to injustice and undermine the fundamental principles of international law.

In this context Ukraine’s proposal to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression deserves full support.

Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction as regards the crime of aggression against Ukraine, unless this matter was referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the UN Security Council.

As it is not possible to act through the Security Council owing to the fact that its permanent member with veto rights is at the same time the perpetrator of aggression, Poland supports the establishment of a tribunal by means of an agreement between the UN Secretary-General and Ukraine on the basis of a recommendation from the General Assembly. At the same time, we do not rule out our support for other ways of establishing such a tribunal, if this is the result of international arrangements .

In order to effectively prosecute this kind of international crime it is necessary to properly secure evidence. Therefore, we also support all initiatives in this regard, in particular the establishment of the International Centre for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression.

It is vital that perpetrators of international crimes committed in and against Ukraine, the crime of aggression in particular, should be persecuted as this will demonstrate that international law does not allow impunity and that individual criminal responsibility can also be borne by state leaders.

Poland will work with Ukraine and other like-minded partners to set up a Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression against Ukraine.