Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

238. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action the EU can take to ensure accountability for Russian war crimes in Ukraine; if he agrees that any peace deal should not negate the warrants issue by the ICC for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for their responsibility for the war crime of unlawful transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27322/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Ireland, along with the European Union, has been resolute in the pursuit of accountability for Russia’s actions committed as part of its illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. Ireland was one of the 39 members of the “Core Group” present in Lviv on 9 May to endorse the draft legal instruments necessary to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine. The Special Tribunal will be established under the legal framework of the Council of Europe and will build upon the work of Eurojust’s International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine to prosecute those individuals who bear the greatest responsibility for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As the first permanent international court with the power to prosecute international crimes, the International Criminal Court (ICC), also has a crucial role to play fighting impunity for international crimes that have been committed in Ukraine. In March 2022, Ireland was one of 43 states to refer the situation in Ukraine to the ICC in order to enable the ICC Prosecutor to immediately start an investigation. Since 2022, Ireland has made voluntary contributions amounting to €2 million to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, to assist his office in the investigation and prosecution of all situations before the Court, including Ukraine and Palestine. This is in addition to Ireland’s assessed contribution, which is €1.9 million in 2025.

As the EU’s agency for judicial cooperation in criminal matters, Eurojust has further supported the investigation of international crimes arising out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through several initiatives. The Core International Crimes Evidence Database has been established to preserve, store and analyse evidence of international crimes collected by EU Member States. Furthermore, Eurojust has established a Joint Investigation Team to enable investigators from countries undertaking domestic investigations into Russian crimes in Ukraine, namely Ukraine, Lithuania Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia and Romania, to cooperate and share evidence with each other and the ICC.

To date, the Prosecutor of the ICC has issued 6 arrest warrants for senior Russian officials accused of committing international crimes, including President Vladimir Putin. As an independent organ of the Court it is for the Prosecutor, and not States, to decide whether to proceed with an investigation or prosecution in a given case, subject to the relevant judicial authorisation. Ireland supports the independent and impartial work of the ICC Prosecutor in Ukraine and all situations before the Court.