The Long-awaited Breakthrough Legislation – Changes in Ukrainian Criminal Law Due to the Ratification of the Rome Statute
The Long-awaited Breakthrough Legislation – Changes in Ukrainian Criminal Law Due to the Ratification of the Rome Statute

Summary/Abstract: Despite the fact that the Russian aggression against Ukraine has beenongoing since 2014, Ukrainian legislation establishing criminal responsibility forinternational crimes had not been fully in line with international standards fora long time. After many years of negotiations and overcoming many obstacles, the Lawof Ukraine “On amendments to the Criminal and the Criminal Procedure Codes ofUkraine in connection with the ratifcation of the Rome Statute of the InternationalCriminal Court and its amendments” of 9 October 2024 entered into force on 24 October 2024. This signifes that the Ukrainian material criminal law has introducedinternationally recognised categories and elements of international crimes. In thisarticle we analyse whether it is true that international standards regarding the elements of international crimes have been fully introduced, and to what extent the newlegislation fulfls the goals of international criminal law – in particular, whether itsufciently implements the standards established in the Rome Statute. This analysisindicates several elements that still could be improved in the area of Ukrainian material criminal law when it comes to the defnitions of international crimes.

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