The seven members of the Eurojust-supported joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine have agreed to amend the JIT Agreement to enhance investigations on crimes of torture, ill-treatment and filtration. The JIT meeting took place in Kyiv on 10 September, just before the start of the recently held United for Justice Conference. Over the last two and a half years, the JIT’s operations have significantly strengthened the capacity of member states to investigate Russian war crimes, laying a solid legal foundation for gathering, preserving, and exchanging evidence.
Just three weeks after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Eurojust supported the establishment of a JIT set up on 25 March 2022 by Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. On 30 May 2022, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia became members, followed by Romania on 13 October 2022. On 3 March 2023, the JIT’s seven national authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Department of Justice.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Europol have been participants in the JIT since April 2022 and October 2023, respectively.
United for Justice conference
The United for Justice Conference, organised by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine on 11 September in Kyiv, was dedicated to the attacks committed by Russia to vital civilian infrastructure objects and their impact on Ukrainian population.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has suffered devastating assaults on the energy grids, healthcare and education facilities, and agricultural land. The destruction has been widespread. Entire villages, towns, and cities have been nearly or completely destroyed, and homes, schools, hospitals have been reduced to ruins.
According to the data shared by the Ukrainian authorities, agricultural land has decreased by 24% since February 2022, affecting food security globally as well as the livelihoods of Ukrainians. As of December 2023, 3,798 educational institutions have been bombed or shelled, denying countless children the education they deserve.
The conference was officially opened by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, together with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, Eurojust President, Ladislav Hamran, and other key stakeholders involved in accountability efforts for core international crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine.
President Hamran commented: International humanitarian law is clear: civilian objects – those that do not serve a military purpose – cannot be targeted. These laws exist to protect those who are not involved in the fighting and their violation can constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today, we are here to deliver a powerful message: Ukraine, with the support of the international community, will not let this happen. At Eurojust, we remain fully committed to making sure that justice is done.
During today’s conference, President Hamran also presented Eurojust’s operational work to tackle the illicit sale of technologies to Russia, a global challenge that needs a global response. In addition to this operational work, on 12 July, Eurojust and the U.S. Department of Justice organised a key meeting in The Hague to address this issue.
The conference dedicated several sessions to analysing the scale of the damage done to the energy, grain and ports infrastructure, and the health care and education facilities. Participants discussed the urgent need to investigate and prosecute these crimes and to mobilise resources to deter their commission and effectively deal with their consequences.
Eurojust and the war in Ukraine
Since the outbreak of the war, Eurojust has been at the forefront of supporting accountability for Russian crimes. Just three weeks following the full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022, Eurojust supported the setting up of a JIT that now consists of Ukraine, six EU Member States, the International Criminal Court and Europol.
In February 2023, Eurojust launched the Core International Crimes Evidence Database (CICED), based on an urgent amendment of Eurojust’s mandate, following the invasion of Ukraine. So far, thousands of files from various countries including Ukraine have been submitted to CICED for preservation and analysis. The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine (ICPA), launched in July 2023 is also hosted by Eurojust, and together with CICED supports the work of the JIT.
