Commenting on the completion of the final meeting of the Core Group* on a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, Secretary General Alain Berset said:
“I welcome the successful outcome of the Core Group’s meeting and the finalisation of the necessary technical legal documents for the establishment of the Special Tribunal within the framework of the Council of Europe.
“The Council of Europe stands ready to put the Special Tribunal swiftly in place. It is now for states to demonstrate the political will to ensure the establishment of the Special Tribunal.”
Members of the Core Group gathered in Strasbourg from 19-21 March 2025 for the group’s 14th and final meeting.
The Core Group finalised the technical work on the three draft documents necessary for the establishment of the Special Tribunal: the draft bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe on the establishment of the Special Tribunal, the Special Tribunal’s draft statute and a draft enlarged partial agreement on the management of the Special Tribunal.
These three documents will now be submitted for political consideration.
*Created in 2023, the Core Group on the Establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is a group of senior legal experts from around 38 states who have been working with the Ukrainian authorities, the EU Commission, the European External Action Service and the Council of Europe to seek justice for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.
File: Russia’s war against Ukraine
Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine
