The Joint Investigation Team in Ukraine: An Opportunity for the International Criminal Court?

Abstract

During the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, a joint investigation team (JIT) with members of seven States and a participant from the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was set up on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine. It is an unprecedented development that the OTP joins a JIT with national authorities under the auspices of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust). This essay analyses how the OTP’s participation in the JIT in Ukraine may affect the proactive complementarity of the ICC. It identifies the benefits of a JIT tool and the potential consequences of the OTP’s engagement in a JIT for its independence and impartiality. It argues that despite concerns and challenges, the OTP’s participation in a JIT offers a novel modality of implementing the policy of proactive complementarity through two-track cooperation and assistance.