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War crimes: first trial in Kiev on May 18th

William JULIÉ underlines the effectiveness of international criminal justice, in particular of the International Criminal Court. The opening of a national trial in Ukraine to judge a Ukrainian soldier suspected of having committed a war crime by having murdered a civilian has considerable symbolic significance. A major interest of the opening of this trial is to underline the subsidiary role of the International Criminal Court. The goal remains for countries to try their own cases. The case of Syria is not comparable with that of Ukraine because Syria has not shown the slightest willingness to prosecute and judge the perpetrators of crimes committed on its territory. However, impunity does not reign even for Syria as Germany has decided to exercise its universal jurisdiction for the crimes committed in Syria. He stresses that what matters is that in the end, justice is done by any means.