Zelensky signs law on amendments to criminal legislation envisaging ratification of the Rome Statute
Kyiv • UNN
The President signed a law bringing the Criminal Code in line with the Rome Statute of the ICC. The document toughens the penalties for aggression and introduces a new article on “Crimes against humanity.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law that brings the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in line with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and ensures criminal prosecution for the most serious international crimes. UNN reports this with reference to the document card No. 11484.
The law is titled “On Amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine in connection with the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and amendments thereto.”
It will come into force on the day following the day of its publication.
According to the document, the titles of some articles of the Criminal Code are being changed. In particular, Article 437 “Planning, Preparation, Unleashing and Waging of an Aggressive War” was replaced with “The Crime of Aggression” - planning, preparation or unleashing of an aggressive war or military conflict, as well as participation in a conspiracy aimed at committing such actions, which will be punishable by a more severe penalty - imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years (currently 7 to 12 years), as well as for waging an aggressive war or aggressive military actions - punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment (currently 10 to 12 years).
The title of Article 438 “Violation of the laws and customs of war” is also changed to “War crimes”. The punishment in this article remains unchanged.
In addition, the Criminal Code is supplemented with new articles, including “Crimes against humanity,” i.e., intentional commission as part of a deliberate large-scale or systematic attack on civilians, which is expressed in:
- persecution of any identifiable group or community, i.e. restriction of fundamental human rights on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, sexual or other grounds (characteristics) of discrimination defined by international law as unacceptable;
- deportation of the population, i.e., the forced transfer (expulsion) of one or more persons from the territory in which they legally resided to the territory of another state in the absence of grounds provided for by international law;
- Forced displacement of the population, i.e., the forced and unjustified transfer (eviction) of one or more persons from the area in which they legally resided to another area within the same state;
- rape, sexual exploitation, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence;
- slavery or human trafficking;
- enforced disappearance;
- illegal deprivation of liberty;
- torture;
- other intentional inhuman acts of a similar nature, which are accompanied by the infliction of severe suffering or serious bodily injury or serious harm to mental or physical health.
Such criminal violations are punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7 to 15 years.
Recall
The Verkhovna Rada supported the ratification of the Rome Statute with 281 votes. Before the vote, MPs received letters of support from the General Staff and Budanov, although the discussion was tense with arguments for and against.
