EVIDENCE IN THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT – THE ROLE OF FORENSIC EXPERTS: THE UKRAINIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

Background: Ukraine faced unprecedented challenges for to the national justice system and the possibility of using international justice to bring the Russian Federation military, officers,and officials to justice after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on 24 February 24, 2022. Since In March 2022, the ICC Prosecutor has started an investigation of into war crimes in Ukraine. In addition, joint investigative groups are carrying out activities. Cooperation between pre-trial investigation bodies of Ukraine through the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with and the International Criminal Court has been established. Therefore, the research of into possible problems in the criminal procedure of prosecution for war crimes is one of the priority areas for Ukrainian law enforcement practice and legal science. Methods: The present article is devoted to the peculiarities of the ICC international criminal justice, in particular the ICC jurisdiction in the territory of Ukraine (Ukraine has not ratified the ІСС Rome Statute), the ICC model of administration of justice, the rules of admissibility of evidence, the status of experts, and the features of expert involvement during ICC trials. Results and Conclusions: The authors found that several provisions of the joint Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and the Office of the Prosecutor General ‘On approval of the Procedure for interaction between bodies and units of the National Police of Ukraine, health care institutions and the bodies of the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine in establishing the fact of the death of a person during martial law on the territory of Ukraine’ dated 9 March 2022 do not correspond to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine. The authors emphasise that the erroneous provisions of this bylaw could serve as a legal basis for avoiding criminal responsibility for war crimes.