Developing Critical Operational Manuals to Benefit Ukraine’s Prosecutors and War Crimes Accountability Mechanisms

About

The goal of the project  is to systematically strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to deliver justice and ensure accountability for atrocity crimes and other gross human rights violations committed during Russia’s armed aggression. The planned activities are based on a theory of change that assumes: if evidence is correctly identified, collected, and preserved to maintain its evidentiary value, and if national prosecutors are equipped to present cases in domestic courts in line with international standards, supported by adequate legal frameworks, then justice efforts will be significantly enhanced.

Key activities are:

1. Strengthening the institutional capacity of national law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute war crimes and other serious human rights violations.
   
2. Ensuring accurate identification, collection, and storage of evidence in accordance with both Ukrainian law and international legal standards.
   
3. Enhancing the capacity of national prosecutors to litigate atrocity crimes cases in domestic courts to international standards.
   
4. Conducting legal analysis and developing legislative proposals to improve the protection of witnesses and victims in the national legal framework.

Expected Results

• Development of a practical manual (20–40 pages) for war crimes investigators and prosecutors, providing guidance on what types of evidence to collect and how to collect it to preserve its evidentiary value in both domestic and international proceedings. The manual will be disseminated among frontline personnel, including military officers, to support evidence collection in line with best practices.
• Creation of a specialised OSINT guide to help operators and analysts effectively maximise the value of open-source intelligence shared with investigators and prosecutors. This will include working with local stakeholders to promote the use of OSINT as a valuable security and accountability tool, highlighting how it can be collected securely and in a way that increases its potential admissibility in court, despite current procedural gaps in Ukraine’s Criminal Procedure Code.
• Development of tailored practical tools for military personnel, supporting the use of collected data as evidence in legal proceedings.
• Delivery of targeted trainings for prosecutors of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on building legal arguments in war crimes cases.
• Organisation and facilitation of a moot court, allowing participants to apply theoretical knowledge gained during trainings in a simulated courtroom setting.
• Engagement of national and international legal experts to analyse the current legal framework, including previous drafts developed by ULAG, and develop updated, effective legislation on the protection of victims and witnesses.
• Convening consultations and coordination meetings with stakeholders and other interested parties.