Publication author
Ekaterina Rashevskaya
As history testifies, the heads of the aggressor states manage to evade justice … into the next world. However, if such a fate befalls the Russian leader, will there be a tribunal over him and how to protect the victims? Read more in the exclusive blog for Channel 24 website.
Zero sum game
Putin, like other dictators, understands that the armed conflict in Ukraine, large-scale war crimes, crimes against humanity and even the genocide of the Ukrainian nation, nuclear blackmail, complete disregard for international law, in case of defeat, leave two options for him.
- The first is international courts and serving sentences for the rest of your life.
- The second is the disappearance into another world of the “Putin” phenomenon itself, along with several actors who play this role, depending on the importance of the event.
There can be no intermediate option in the form of “sincere apologies”, “voluntary compensation for harm”, “leaving power”. After all, the inability of the international community to ensure the implementation of the principle of the inevitability of legal responsibility for grave international crimes will inevitably put humanity on the threshold of a new world war.
“Bad Boys” in the Courts
Themis loves bad guys, but they almost never reciprocate her feelings. Hitler chose suicide, Milosevic's heart gave out, Gaddafi was tortured and then killed by angry rebels, Sari died of old age.
Probably the most “successful” was the trial of Saddam Hussein in a special court in Iraq. As a result, the former dictator was convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence was executed on December 30, 2006. Everything would be fine, but despite the classification of the names of the judges who participated in the process, that the chairman of the court, the investigating judge, were killed because of their activities.
There are also frequent cases when “colleagues in management methods” stand up for their own. Thus, Wilhelm II, despite the presence in the Versailles Peace Treaty of provisions on bringing him to justice as a war criminal, abdicated and received asylum in the Netherlands.
In turn, Omar al-Bashir, even after 2 arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, is quietly traveling around the states of the African Union, because the latter agreed not to extradite him for a trial that “may cast doubt on peace in the region.”
No time for long discussions
The Ukrainian formula for peace is based on ensuring justice, in particular, through the creation of a special tribunal for aggression – the only instance that can have jurisdiction over Putin, Lukashenko and other “immune” persons. An active discussion of the concept of the court began in March 2022. However, despite the strong results of the activities of the competent authorities of Ukraine in the form of resolutions and statements of international organizations and individual states, we are still at the stage of discussing the concept.
How to create, from whom, what material and procedural norms to apply, where to judge, arrest – these and other questions with a variety of answers for the long term.
While the international community fears that the tribunal will lack support or legitimacy, while it waits to what extent Russia will lose in the war (in the event of a complete defeat, there will be many more people who want to join the creation and operation of the court), Putin is overgrown with sores, and other culprits are looking for states that will be ready to hide them from the closed eyes of Themis.
The average duration of legal proceedings in international institutions is 10 years. Putin is 70 years old. If the grandfather is not mowed down by death, then, like Ieng Tirith (Cambodian criminal), he will be able to avoid justice due to Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.
Broadcast to hell
The option of completely destroying the phenomenon of “Putin” in geopolitics by eliminating it in a natural way or at the hands of “volunteers” creates serious problems for the administration of justice. International criminal courts and tribunals have no jurisdiction over the dead. Deceased persons cannot be parties to the case. They cannot be bound by the authorities of the court.
A judicial or appellate chamber that seeks to exercise jurisdiction over the dead operates ultra vires – outside of its powers, which is the basis for an appeal or annulment of a sentence. Consequently, Ukraine's efforts to create a special tribunal, the expended financial and human resources to establish the facts, the legitimate expectations of the victims can be nullified by the death of the perpetrators.
It is even possible that a sentence passed during his lifetime, after the death of the perpetrator, will be appealed by his relatives or authorized persons. This can drag out the process so long that the victims also die.
Nothing will prevent Ukraine from holding a trial of Putin and the company in one of the national institutions. The Kiev Court of Appeal already has the relevant practice of considering the case of the dead Stalin. But such processes are political shams, although they contribute to the partial provision of the right to the truth, but they do not have the legal nature of a court decision.
What to do?
Ukraine should not agree to “Nuremberg”, “Cambodia” or any other scenario of creating a special tribunal. Taking into account past experience, a specific document should be proposed, which will contain the material and procedural foundations for the activities of the new instance.
In such a document, it is important to answer the question of how to ensure the protection of victims of international crimes of Russian agents if the top leadership does not live to see the verdict. For example, the tribunal may make public the decisions-conclusions based on the results of the preliminary proceedings in the event of the death of the accused. If there is irrefutable evidence of the person's guilt, after his death, the victims retain the right to receive compensation either from a specially created fund or from the assets of the perpetrator.
In any case, it is not worth hoping for a long life for Putin and others. A specific challenge requires a proper legal response.
