Malta presides over signing of tribunal agreement to prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression

Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, in his capacity as President of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, presided over the signing of a landmark agreement establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

The agreement, signed in Strasbourg by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset, marks the first concrete international step to hold Russian leaders accountable for the invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

Borg said he was deeply honoured that this step was being taken under Malta’s presidency.

“This Tribunal will confront one of the gravest violations of international law: the crime of aggression. And it will do so by ensuring that those who wield power are not shielded by it,” he said. “They will be held to account—not through retaliation, but through law.”

The signing came just one day after Borg chaired an extraordinary session of the Committee of Ministers, where the bilateral agreement establishing the tribunal was overwhelmingly approved.

The Special Tribunal is intended to address the longstanding gap in international legal mechanisms by prosecuting the crime of aggression—a charge often difficult to bring forward under existing frameworks. While complementing the work of the International Criminal Court, the new body will focus specifically on the decision to wage war against Ukraine.

The Maltese Presidency of the Council of Europe will now shift its focus to implementing the Tribunal, as well as supporting Ukraine through a coordinated multilateral package including a Claims Commission and a Compensation Fund.

So far, over 34,000 claims have been registered with the Council of Europe’s Register of Damages.