Crimes of aggression documented in resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) may be used as case material for the future Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, thereby strengthening mechanisms for enforcing PACE resolutions, which currently have a recommendatory nature.
This was stated in a comment to Ukrinform by Serhii Soboliev, First Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Permanent Delegation to PACE.
“The peculiarity of PACE resolutions — even those adopted by a two-thirds majority and marked as mandatory — is that there are no enforcement mechanisms. The only exception is cases where one can apply to the European Court of Human Rights, if the violations fall within its jurisdiction,” Soboliev explained.
He pointed out that other PACE resolutions, though important and necessary, lack enforcement power, but this is set to change once the Special Tribunal becomes operational.
“Cases of specific acts of aggression documented in PACE resolutions can become case files for the Tribunal, as they fall directly under its jurisdiction,” said the member of the PACE Monitoring Committee.
He added that this also applies to individuals named in the resolutions.
“A large number of PACE resolutions mention specific officials by name. This will be extremely useful, as such references will serve as a direct legal basis. The same will apply to Putin, [Prime Minister] Mishustin, and [Foreign Minister] Lavrov. The only nuance is that, once officially indicted, the proceedings against these three will be suspended while they remain in office. However, for all other senior officials, trials and verdicts may proceed even in absentia.”
As reported by Ukrinform, the signing ceremony of the bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe took place in Strasbourg on June 25, 2025, with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Source: PACE resolutions to serve as case material for Special Tribunal – Ukrainian MP
