On Wednesday, June 25, an important event took place in Kyiv – the signing of an agreement between Ukraine and the Council of Europe to create a Special Tribunal for investigating aggression crimes.

“Justice takes time, but we cannot afford to delay,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky during the signing ceremony with Council of Europe Secretary General Alan Berse.

A month earlier, the European Union expressed support for the establishment of this tribunal in Lviv.

But what exactly is a crime of aggression? What is the role of the Special Tribunal? How does it differ from the International Criminal Court?

Here are eight key points to know about the tribunal's powers.

What is a crime of aggression?

The International Criminal Court defines a crime of aggression as “the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of another state.”

Thus, the leadership of the state that initiated the aggression is subject to prosecution.

This crime is one of the core offenses defined by the Rome Statute, alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.