Supreme Court judges trained on war crimes against property

Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Mykola Mazur and Supreme Court judges in the Criminal Cassation Court Mykola Kovtunovych and Nadiia Stefaniv took part in a specialized training for trainers "War Crimes against Property" held in Warsaw.

As part of the training, the participants attended lectures on the basics of international humanitarian law on the protection of property and reviewed the legislation on war crimes against property in the Rome Statute and the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In addition, an overview of current case law in the area of looting decisions and a tool for analyzing court decisions in war crimes cases in Ukraine were presented. The lecturers recalled the types of liability provided for in the Criminal Code of Ukraine and analyzed their significance in war crimes cases.

The second day of the training was devoted to practical exercises in small groups, during which the trainees had the opportunity to complete various tasks. In particular, the participants analyzed court decisions and identified parts that describe objective or subjective elements of war crimes against property that could be improved. The judges also practiced writing judgments, focusing on the correct citation of sources of international law and the use of specialized terminology. Special attention was paid to the description of the contextual part of the court decision and the mention of the types of liability.

Finally, the working groups presented the results of their work, analyzed them and exchanged views on how the new tool could improve the work of judges.

The training was organized by the National School of Judges with the support of Project Expedite Justice.

Photos courtesy of the organiser.