ICC ‘turf war’ blocking Ukrainian bid to have top Russians tried, advocate says

Philippe Sands KC backs Ukrainian call for an international tribunal to prosecute Kremlin leaders for crime of aggression

The international criminal court is locked in a deplorable turf war that is blocking Ukraine's efforts to set up a special international tribunal with the authority to try Russia's leadership for the crime of aggression, Philippe Sands KC claims.

Sands, a leading advocate of an international tribunal, blamed Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, and some unnamed judges on the court, an international body based in The Hague that prosecutes people for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. He said they were opposing a special international tribunal not on the basis of principle, but a self-interested turf war.