The new volume of the Polish Yearbook of International Law (PYIL)

The new volume of the Polish Yearbook of International Law (PYIL) is out. The second part of the 43rd volume for 2023 includes selected papers presented at the seminar “Universal Jurisdiction and the Crime of Aggression: The Challenges and Opportunities for JIT Member States”, organized on 4 December 2023 by the Center for Research on International Criminal Law at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in collaboration with Tallinn University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Dr Karolina Aksamitowska, Lecturer of International Law and the Head of the Law BA Study Programme was a thematic editor of the special section of the PYIL.

Polish Yearbook of International Law

The contributions to this part offer an analysis of the Lithuania’s role in investigating Russian crimes in Ukraine (by Dovile Sagatiene), the legality and legitimacy of domestic prosecutions in third States (by Gabija Grigaite-Daugirde), the inadmissibility of jurisdictional immunity for those responsible for international crimes (by Małgorzata Biszczanik), and practical aspects of investigating core crimes committed in Ukraine (by Hanna Kuczyńska and Michał Nasiłowski). Other seminar papers address the interplay between domestic and international criminal jurisdiction in the context of a special tribunal for the crime of aggression (by Łukasz Kułaga), the implementation and interpretation of international crimes’ definitions in Ukraine’s national jurisdiction (by Andriy Kosylo and Anastasiia Dmytriv), and the prosecution of the crime of aggression in both international and Ukrainian jurisdictions (by Anton Korynevych, Oksana Senatorova, and Mykhaylo Shepitko).

The final  in this part discusses the role of the International Centre for the Prosecution of Russia’s Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine and the potential of new technologies and justice hubs in the fight against impunity (by Karolina Aksamitowska), underscoring the international community’s commitment to accountability for the crimes committed in Ukraine.