The Way to Justice Restoration in Counteraction to the Crime of Aggression

Abstract. The article is devoted to the search for the way to justice restoration in counteraction to the crime of aggression. In this context, international approaches to the definition of the crime of aggression in Ukraine, the crime of aggression in the Ukrainian legislation on criminal responsibility and the prosecution of crimes of aggression under national jurisdiction through case law study were investigated. This approach made it possible to consider the crime of aggression through the prism of international legal acts adopted by the League of Nations, the UN, the activities of international courts and tribunals, which contributed to the condemnation of the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court became an important international legal act in condemning the crime of aggression. It was paid attention to the long-term Russian aggression against Ukraine with the correlation among the activities of international organizations, the international definition of the crime of aggression, the current national legislation and the activities of criminal justice bodies in Ukraine. At the same time, the methods of analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, formal-legal, comparative-legal, historical-legal and other methods were applied, which in their combination made it possible to carry out a comprehensive study. The scientific novelty of the work consists in substantiating the possibility of bringing to criminal responsibility for certain manifestations of the crime of aggression not only in international institutions, but also in Ukraine. In addition, an important result of the study was the conclusion regarding the possibility of criminal liability within the jurisdiction of Ukraine not only of political leaders, but also of persons who played a special role in planning, preparing, unleashing or waging an aggressive war. At the same time, it is a prerogative to condemn political leaders within the limits of international jurisdiction. Study of Ukrainian judicial practice regarding registered criminal offenses under Art. 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine indicates that its development continues. In 2015–2017, five verdicts were found for six criminals who were not political leaders. In the future, certain limits of the application of Art. 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Coordination of the efforts of international and national criminal justice bodies regarding the prosecution of Russian political leaders for committing the crime of aggression also remains a promising direction.