The Constitutional Court (CC) of Ukraine has received a constitutional motion from the acting president and chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to reach a conclusion on the Roman Statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is being introduced in the parliament for ratification.
According to the press service of Constitutional Court, the corresponding motion was received on May 22.
According to CC rules, the motion was sent to the court’s secretariat for further examination.
As reported, in Feb. 2014, the Ukrainian parliament asked the ICC
to hold top Ukrainian officials, including Viktor Yanukovych, to
account for committing crimes against humanity during the peaceful
anti-government demonstrations between Nov. 30, 2013, and Feb.
22, 2014.
In April, an ICC prosecutor started a preliminary inquiry into crimes
committed before and during the removal of Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych from office.
The ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries individuals
accused of the most serious crimes of concern to the international
community as a whole, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against
humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is based on a
treaty, the Rome Statute, joined by 122 countries.
The ICC is based in The Hague but can hold its hearings anywhere.
Ukraine signed the Rome Statute on Jan. 20, 2000, but has yet to ratify it.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said earlier that by
signing the political part of the association agreement with the
European Union, Ukraine undertakes to ratify the Rome Statute. This led
to the Ukrainian government asking the Constitutional Court to determine
the constitutionality of a possible ratification by Ukraine of the Rome
Statute of the ICC in The Hague. In the event of the CC’s positive
decision, the Cabinet of Ministers will ask the parliament to ratify the
statute without a delay.
