OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights supports the Supreme Court in ensuring that the aggressor state is held accountable for violations of international law

Given the shortage of judges in the courts of first instance and appellate courts, the consideration of war crimes cases in compliance with international standards is a challenge for Ukraine's justice system under martial law.

This was stated by Nadiia Stefaniv, Judge of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, in her speech at the side event ‘The role of civil society and international actors in supporting adjudication of war crimes by national courts’ held as part of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference.

Konstantine Vardzelashvili, Head of the Democratisation Department of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, stressed that all OSCE participating States have committed themselves to upholding international law under all circumstances. ODIHR supports Ukraine in fulfilling this commitment and will continue to work with Ukrainian institutions and legal experts to assist in the implementation of the challenging tasks.

‘It is remarkable that despite the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, the country is making great efforts to promote the right to a fair trial,’ said International Criminal Court Judge Joanna Korner.

The conference focused on the state of war crimes proceedings in Ukraine, Ukraine's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the role of international organisations and civil society in bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring that trials meet the principles of fair trial.

The Office provided a platform for discussions between Ukrainian judges and their counterparts from other OSCE participating States. This made it possible to share best practices in the trial of international war crimes.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a number of webinars and training seminars have been held for judges of the Supreme Court, first instance and appellate courts with the support of OSCE/ODIHR. The trainers were judges of international courts and tribunals, as well as scholars in the field of international humanitarian and international criminal law.

The event was organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.