Symposium on the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine – Critical Perspectives on Foundations

The establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine constitutes a significant moment in the development of international criminal law. Designed to address the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) lack of jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in the situation in Ukraine, the Tribunal reflects both an urge for the adaptability of international legal mechanisms and a reminder of the structural limits of the existing institutional framework.

The Tribunal was established in 2025 through a bilateral agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe, which includes its statute as an annex. It is expected to be complemented by a multilateral framework for its governance and financing, upon which the Tribunal will be able to become operational. This places the Tribunal in a legally and institutionally complex position: It is neither a purely international court in the classical sense nor a straightforwardly domestic or internationalised tribunal. Furthermore, key features of the Tribunal’s statute – including its jurisdictional design, its reliance on referrals by Ukrainian authorities, its provisions on cooperation with the ICC, and its treatment of immunities – highlight the extent to which institutional design and questions of legitimacy are closely intertwined.

While these and related issues have been the subject of extensive scholarly debate (see, for instance, here, here and here), much of the discussion has remained within relatively narrow doctrinal confines. This symposium seeks to build on that body of work while expanding the analytical frame. It invites contributions that situate the Tribunal within wider debates on the relationship between law and political constraint, and the conditions under which new institutional forms acquire legal and normative authority.

In doing so, the symposium aims to foreground perspectives that are not always fully reflected in mainstream accounts. For instance, the Tribunal’s emergence is closely connected to sustained advocacy by Ukrainian and other Eastern European actors, whose engagement has been central to its political and legal realisation. Their perspectives – shaped by distinct historical and geopolitical experiences – are essential to a comprehensive assessment of the Tribunal’s legitimacy and role.

At the same time, the Tribunal must grapple with foundational tensions that extend beyond doctrinal analysis. Competing theoretical frameworks, including those developed in international relations scholarship, have sought to explain or critique legal responses to the war in Ukraine. In the language of Just War Theory, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is widely characterised as lacking a “just cause”, a view associated with thinkers such as Michael Walzer. Yet, within International Relations Theory, sceptical accounts persist, most notably John Mearsheimer’s realist argument, which attributes causal weight to NATO expansion. These competing perspectives raise a central question: can the crime of aggression be adjudicated beyond rival narratives, or will any tribunal be seen as an instrument of victor’s power?

Against this background, Völkerrechtsblog convenes a symposium intended not merely as a forum for initial reflection, but as a sustained site of scholarly engagement. The symposium will accompany the Tribunal from its conceptual foundations through its operational phase and, ultimately, to an assessment of its longer-term impact. Further iterations will therefore accompany future stages in the Tribunal’s development.

Focus of this Call for Submissions

For this initial phase, we invite contributions addressing the foundational legal and institutional questions underpinning the Tribunal’s anticipated functioning.

Central among these is the relationship between legal authority and political constraint as reflected in the Tribunal’s design and operation. Contributions may, inter alia, wish to address:

• The Tribunal’s jurisdictional framework, including its ratione personae and ratione materiae limitations, and its dependence on state referral mechanisms;
• The legal character of the Tribunal as a hybrid, international or internationalised court, and the implications of this characterisation for the applicability of immunities under international law;
• The contribution of Ukrainian and Eastern European perspectives to ongoing debates on accountability for the crime of aggression;
• The extent to which the Tribunal’s institutional design reflects, modifies, or departs from existing models of international criminal adjudication;
• The role of state support and participation in shaping the Tribunal’s claim to represent the international community;
• The interaction between legal argument and broader theoretical frameworks, including international relations and “just war” thinking; and
• The Tribunal’s relationship with the ICC, including questions of complementarity, coordination, and potential normative fragmentation.

We welcome submissions engaging with these or related questions. Contributions may adopt doctrinal, theoretical, or interdisciplinary approaches. Particularly encouraged are submissions that move beyond descriptive analysis and engage critically with the legal assumptions and structural choices underlying the Tribunal’s creation.

Submission Details

If you are interested in participating in the symposium, please send your contribution of approximately 1.500 words, in English and in line with our guidelines for authors, to ukraine-tribunal@voelkerrechtsblog.org. Please mention ‘Call for Contributions – Symposium’ in the subject line. Submissions should also mention the affiliation of the authors.

Deadline for the submission of blogposts: Sunday, 14 June 2026