Switzerland backs special tribunal for Ukraine

For Alain Berset, the special court "stands for justice and hope". Keystone-SDA

Switzerland and 35 other countries, including the EU, have announced their intention to accede to a new, expanded partial agreement on the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.

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The announcement was made by the Council of Europe on Friday at the meeting of the organisation’s foreign ministers in Chisinau, Moldova.

In a statement, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, former Swiss government minister Alain Berset, welcomed “a decisive step towards the concrete establishment of the Special Court and the recognition of responsibility for the attack on Ukraine”.

For Berset, this special court “stands for justice and hope”. This political commitment must now be translated into action by ensuring the functioning and financing of this court, he said.

+ Alain Berset: ‘International law is either universal or meaningless’

For the court to be established, it must be supported by at least 16 states. Switzerland is on board, subject to parliamentary approval, said Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who led the Swiss delegation at the meeting.

Action plan ‘fully’ supported

Switzerland “fully” supports the Council of Europe’s action plan for Ukraine, Cassis stated in the written version of his speech. The country is thus sending “a clear signal against impunity”.

“As a member of the Register of Damages and a signatory to the Convention on the Establishment of an International Complaints Commission, my country intends to continue on the path towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” he said.

The court’s task is to investigate, prosecute and convict those primarily responsible for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. It will hold to account the high-ranking figures involved in this crime.

+ Why Switzerland stopped short of formally sanctioning Ukraine

Addendum on the ICC

This is the first time that a special court has been established under the auspices of the Council of Europe, an organisation from which Russia was expelled following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The establishment of this court, as requested by Ukraine, was approved at the Council of Europe’s ministerial meeting in May 2025. It aims to fill a gap in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). While the ICC is responsible for investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine, it cannot investigate the crime of aggression.

Switzerland is convinced that there is a need for targeted multilateralism without overlapping structures, Cassis continued in his speech. As acting chair, he would advocate for greater complementarity between the two organisations.

He also spoke in favour of Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe – describing this as a “signal for the stability of the European continent”.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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