Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of international legal mechanisms for ensuring accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Ukraine. The relevance of the study is stipulated by the need to ensure justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as to bring perpetrators to justice, which is important both for Ukraine and for strengthening the international legal order. The purpose of the article is to study the existing international legal mechanisms for ensuring accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine, to identify the main challenges to their effective application, and to propose ways to improve these mechanisms in order to achieve justice and strengthen the international legal order. In order to achieve this goal, the study solved a number of tasks: defined the essence of the concepts of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”; analyzed the international institutions that play a key role in ensuring accountability for such crimes, in particular, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights; assessed the role of national pre-trial investigation bodies and courts in Ukraine in ensuring justice; identified the main problems that complicate the implementation of international legal mechanisms and proposals. The study found that international legal mechanisms play an important role in investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity, bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring justice for victims. However, there are a number of challenges that impede their effective implementation, including gaps in national legislation, limited technical and resource capacities, lack of a witness and victim protection program, lack of public awareness, and political obstacles at the international level.
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