Restoring dignity and justice in Ukraine: Expertise and mechanisms

Despite numerous international and regional mechanisms to ensure accountability for conflict-related crimes in Ukraine, domestic efforts shoulder most of the burden and must be supported. This project aims to advance accountability for international crimes in Ukraine by strengthening expertise on accountability mechanisms and contextualising accountability processes.

This project will strengthen Ukrainian municipal law through a series of capacity development activities for legal and justice actors, which will increase their understanding of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law, fair trial standards, legislative drafting, digital evidence, and adjudication of conflict-related crimes. Further, the project will improve the literacy of the war crime of starvation for Ukrainian legal practitioners, civil society organisations (CSOs) and humanitarian agencies in the country and enhance niche Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) capabilities. This project will also support and assist key stakeholders in pursuing strategic universal jurisdiction litigation, and accountability mechanisms for the crime of aggression. Finally, this project will assist government officials in supporting the justice process with training sessions on transitional justice and outreach campaigns to civil society.

This project is part of the ‘Restoring Dignity and Justice in Ukraine' consortium programme, focusing on advancing accountability for international crimes committed in Ukraine. The programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is implemented by the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO), in partnership with the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC), and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC).

Project duration: 1 Sept. 2023 – 31 Dec. 2024