Ukrainian judges participate in professional exchange on international criminal law in Germany

A delegation of Ukrainian judges took part in professional discussions dedicated to issues of international criminal law and the specifics of investigating war crimes. The event was organized by the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) with the support of the Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany, in implementation of decisions of the German Bundestag.

The delegation included Nataliia Antoniuk, Vice President of the Criminal Cassation Court within the Supreme Court. She delivered a presentation on the qualification of ecocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the context of the aggressive war against Ukraine. The participants focused on the following issues:

• Universal jurisdiction: legal grounds and the practice of proceedings regarding international crimes in third countries;
• Structural investigations: specifics of building an evidence base in cases involving crimes against the international legal order;
• Judicial practice: implementation of international criminal law norms in national court decisions;
• Innovative tools: the role of OSINT (open-source intelligence) as a supporting tool in modern international criminal justice.

Leading scholars from the University of Bern, experts from the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), representatives of the German judiciary, and law enforcement agencies of Germany also joined the discussions.

The main goal of the professional exchange was to deepen Ukrainian-German cooperation, provide up-to-date information on methods of investigating international crimes, and analyze German experience in adjudicating war crimes cases.

Participants emphasized the importance of studying European legal mechanisms to ensure the inevitability of punishment for war crimes. The practical experience of German colleagues in structural investigations and the application of universal jurisdiction will be used to improve domestic judicial practice and strengthen Ukraine’s legal framework under martial law.

Following the event, both sides confirmed their readiness for further cooperation in the field of international humanitarian and criminal law.