We return to the topic of the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine with two friends of the pod, Gabija Grigaite Daugirde, deputy foreign minister of Lithuania and Christian Wenaweser, Lichtenstein’s ambassador to the United Nations

We break down what the new tribunal for Ukraine set up via the Council of Europe can and cannot do, and how we got here.

Gabija tells us of the many hours she has spent trying to get everyone on the same page and where the big sticking points were. [Stage whisper] Immunity.

The ICC is also returning to the crime of aggression with a special session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) on the review of the amendments on the crime of aggression convened in New York this month. We ask Christian what the plans are and what he hopes the session can achieve.

There were some veiled references to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which we have covered on the podcast before in Episode 32, which focuses on trials in absentia and Episode 44 where we look at the hasty end to the tribunal.

Our guests’ favourite court cases were the ICC rulings on immunities, especially in the Al Bashir case for Christian. And Gabija enjoys teaching her students about the Lotus case heard by the International Court of Justice’s predecessor the Permanent Court of International Justice.

For recommendations, Christian is reading Homegoing, a historical novel about the slave trade and its effects from Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi. Gabija is honing her world domination skills with the classic self-help book The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. This book was also covered by one of Steph’s favourite podcasts, If Books Could Kill.

This podcast has been produced as part of a partnership with JusticeInfo.net, an independent website in French and English covering justice initiatives in countries dealing with serious violence. It is a media outlet of Fondation Hirondelle, based in Lausanne, Switzerland.