Criminal Responsibility as an Element of Transitional Justice Applied in the Conditions of Ongoing Armed Conflict: Case of Donbas

Since 2014, Ukraine has designed a number of policies that fit into the category of transitional justice (under this term I understand extraordinary measures undertaken in order to address the perception of injustice that exists in a given society, the sources of which can be found in more or less distant past; such measures inevitably contain the element of politics). The paper will focus on one of dimensions of Ukrainian transitional justice project: addressing the mass-scale violence accompanying the armed conflict in Donbas (the culmination of which is over, but the final resolution of which is yet to be found). Conclusions from my initial research suggest, that Ukrainian authorities have not elaborated a comprehensive strategy to address this problem. As a result, transitional justice measures in this field often have spontaneous, ad hoc nature. Nevertheless, they have a potential to influence the dynamics of the conflict itself. Thus, Ukraine constitutes a valuable case study that may help enhance our understanding of connections between transitional justice and peacebuilding. The paper will analyse one of transitional justice measures applied in the discussed circumstances, namely the approach of the Ukrainian state to criminal accountability for crimes associated with the conflict: crimes against state security, which led to the outbreak of the conflict and crimes committed by persons directly engaged in the conflict. The main research question that will be addressed by the paper: to what extent the approach of the Ukrainian state to accountability of the alleged wrongdoers can be explained by political motivations (such as the will to influence the dynamics of the conflict)? More specifically, the paper will seek to answers the following questions: • Who are the ones punished? Do the ones who engaged in the conflict on the side of the government also face criminal responsibility, in the case of breaking the law? • How severe are punishments? • How coherent and consistent are decisions taken by courts situated in different parts of the country? Whether the decisions change over time? • To what extent these decisions correspond with the publicly expressed attitudes of decision-makers to the conflict and to the ones engaged in it? • Whether there is a ground to speak about the existence of practice of de facto amnesties? The analysis will be conducted using the unique dataset created on the basis of relevant verdicts selected from the publicly available online register of Ukrainian court decisions. The results of analysis will be discussed within the wider context of peace process and an attempt will be made to trace the potential impact of the discussed policies on the dynamics of the conflict.