War crimes against the environment: judges of the Supreme Court took part in a specialised training programme

Judges of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court Svitlana Yakovlieva and Oleksandr Yemets joined a specialised training programme for judges, prosecutors and investigators on war crimes against the environment, which took place in Rzeszów (Poland).

During the programme, the participants discussed the impact of war on the environment, the development of the concepts of environmental crimes under the current legal regimes, the specifics of evidence evaluation in criminal proceedings for war crimes under national law, and the judicial practice in proceedings under Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

“The judiciary plays a key role in ensuring justice. It is the Ukrainian courts that bear the main burden of dealing with war crimes cases. The opportunity to deepen knowledge of the national and international practice of environmental war crimes trials, as well as to discuss the specifics of such trials in the Ukrainian context, is extremely important to ensure fair and effective consideration of this category of cases, prosecution of perpetrators and compensation for damages,” said Svitlana Yakovlieva during the exchange of experiences with international experts. 

The event was organised by the EU project Pravo-Justice in cooperation with the Prosecutor General's Office and the International Bar Association (IBA).