The Free Russia Foundation has published a report on the criminal prosecution of crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.

It is important to clarify at the outset that in modern international law, the criminally liable party is not the state but the individual. A state can also bear responsibility under international law, but not criminal responsibility. Tather, it bears international legal responsibility, which more closely resembles civil liability.

The report’s authors are aware of this distinction, specifying “Russian actors” from the first paragraph. While outlining the current state of efforts to hold these actors criminally accountable in the International Criminal Court and in Ukrainian courts, it rightly emphasizes the role of universal jurisdiction —  the national criminal jurisdiction of countries that are not themselves (nor their citizens) direct victims of grave crimes under international law, such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The possibility of exercising such........

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