News analysis by Zachary Wolf, CNN political editor
(CNN) – More than a year after international outrage erupted over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the commission of horrific atrocities, an arrest warrant was issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the International Criminal Court announced, Friday, that charges had been filed against Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova. Belova regarding an alleged scheme to forcibly deport thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Here is an overview of how war crimes trials are conducted:
What is a war crime?
The International Criminal Court has specific definitions of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
Specifically, targeting the civilian population, violating the Geneva Conventions, and targeting specific groups of people may be possible crimes in Russia’s war.
Who can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court?
Anyone accused of committing a crime can be prosecuted within the jurisdiction of the Court, which includes ICC member states.
The court judges people, not states, and focuses on those who bear the greatest responsibility: leaders and officials.
While Ukraine is not a member of the court, it has previously accepted the case, so Putin is eligible to be indicted by the court for ordering war crimes in Ukraine.
However, the ICC does not conduct trials in absentia, so he would either have to be extradited by the Russian authorities or arrested outside Russia, which seems unlikely as long as Putin remains in power.
How does the International Criminal Court take action?
Lawsuits can be brought in one of two ways: The government or the United Nations Security Council can refer cases for investigation.
Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has veto power over the council’s actions.
It was 39 governments, most of them European, that sparked the current investigation.
How long do these investigations take?
If the course of justice is slow in general, international justice hardly moves at all, so investigations at the International Criminal Court take many years, and convictions have been brought in only a handful of cases.
Why might the Ukraine war trial be different?
Because the international outcry against Russia is unique, according to Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University, it could give the court the ability to act differently.
“It is difficult to judge the ICC investigation on past practice,” Goodman said in an email, after the court launched its investigation in 2022. “In the Ukraine situation, the prosecutor receives extraordinary support from dozens of countries.”
