The Situation In Ukraine (Icc-01/22): Limits Of Effectiveness, Procedural Compliance And Legitimacy Of The Investigation (2014–2026)

In four and a half years of investigation in the Situation in Ukraine (ICC-01/22), the Court has issued six publicly known warrants of arrest and twice made a finding that a State Party failed to comply with its obligation to arrest (Mongolia, 2024; Tajikistan, 2026); yet no suspect is in custody and no case has reached the confirmation of charges. The article is based on the full public record of the situation (the ICC-01/22 court record and related press releases, as of 30 September 2026), the Rome Statute, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Regulations of the Court and the policies of the Office of the Prosecutor. The author assesses each key procedural step for compliance with the Statute and OTP policies from the standpoint of counsel on the ICC List of Counsel. Conclusion: in formal procedural terms the investigation is conducted within the Statute, and the position of Pre-Trial Chamber II on immunities and the obligation to arrest is consistent. The principal risks lie in three areas: the effectiveness of arrest, the transparency of case selection, and the actual protection of the rights of future suspects and victims at the situation stage.</span></p> <p><span>The methodology combines formal-dogmatic interpretation of the Statute, a document-by-document analysis of the public procedural record of the situation, and comparison with the Court’s practice in the situations in Georgia, Palestine, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire. The scientific novelty lies in a comprehensive audit of the procedural trajectory of the situation from 2014 to 2026 and in a conceptual framework of four tensions: between independence and partnership, normative force and enforcement, effectiveness and legitimacy, and the situation stage and the rights of future participants in the proceedings.</span></p>

Citation: Keshkentii, Denys. The Situation In Ukraine (Icc-01/22): Limits Of Effectiveness, Procedural Compliance And Legitimacy Of The Investigation (2014–2026) SSRN, DOI 10.2139/ssrn.7544378. Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7544378