On 19 November 2024, the Asser Institute and GRC held a conference on strengthening Ukraine’s efforts to investigate, prosecute, adjudicate and report on international crimes domestically, bringing together international, Dutch and Ukrainian experts. The conference concluded the Asser Institute and GRC’s 2020-2024 MATRA-Ukraine project ‘Strengthening Ukraine’s Capacity to Investigate and Prosecute International Crimes’, funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on developing tools for and supporting Ukrainian criminal justice and civil society actors in their pursuit of domestic accountability amid the ongoing armed conflict.
GRC Senior Legal Adviser Ruby Axelson and Dr Christophe Paulussen of the Asser Institute made opening remarks, highlighting progress and achievements made in the project, despite challenges posed by the global pandemic and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Ruby particularly emphasised the importance of justice pursued and delivered locally in Ukraine, with local ownership and victims at the center of justice processes and in compliance with international law.
The conference kicked off with a panel discussion on the documentation, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of international crimes. GRC’s Prachiti Venkatraman moderated the panel, which included expert panellists from the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General, the Supreme Court, and civil society. The panellists shared their insight and experience of current Ukrainian practice and approaches, particularly emphasising the incorporation of international standards and capacity development in this regard.
During the next panel on incorporating child-friendly justice into the investigation and prosecution of international crimes , moderated by GRC’s Morgan Grant, the panelists, including GRC’s Ruby Axelson, explored the strategies and vision designed and developed by justice actors in Ukraine and internationally to document, investigate and prosecute crimes against and affecting children committed during armed conflict and emphasised the need to take a survivor-centered, child-sensitive and trauma-informed approach when doing so.
As part of the conference close, GRC Managing Partner and President Wayne Jordash KC reflected on the project as a whole, which has been instrumental in holistically assisting the diverse actors engaged in addressing and seeking accountability for international crimes in Ukraine, by developing tools and resources to support investigators, prosecutors, defence lawyers, judges, civil society and journalists. There is further work to be done in continuing to support Ukraine’s ongoing justice endeavours and building on the legacy and outputs of the MATRA-Ukraine project.