The main goal of the event — to coordinate the actions of all civil society organizations, state institutions, local authorities and community activists for victory.
On May 30, at the Mystetskyi Arsenal complex, a conference was held for civil society organizations, government representatives, business and donors — the Civil Society Forum “Outlines of the Future: Victory, Recovery and Modernization of Ukraine”.
As part of a panel discussion "The Price of Justice: who, how and how much will pay for it", which was moderated by a board member of the Institute for Peace and Understanding Maksym Yeligulashvili, participants discussed the nuances of the concept of "justice", key approaches to establishing justice and holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable, and the procedures and mechanisms of justice.
The discussion was organized with the support of Coalition “Ukraine. Five in the Morning” — a coalition of human rights organizations that collect and document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine.
IMiP, together with partners, continues to work on transitional justice. In the near term our organization plans to work on creating a transitional justice mechanism for Ukraine and implementing non-judicial means of achieving justice within that framework. Our goal: to complement the existing model of transitional justice with non-judicial, people-centered practices that will contribute to recovery and sustainable peace in the country.
Participants in the discussion included representatives of relevant NGOs and experts: Nadiya Volkova (Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group), Olga Reshetylova (Media Initiative for Human Rights), Oksana Koliada (NGO "Space of Opportunities") and Yuliia Tyshchenko (National Institute for Strategic Studies).
"The question of justice is quite complex and it undoubtedly falls within the high expectations of Ukrainian society. Recently, we see that this category has also become a space for 'hype'. However, it is important to remember that the war began in 2014, and therefore we must consider that period in our context," emphasized Maksym Yeligulashvili.
Coordinator of MIPL, member of the Coalition “Ukraine. Five in the Morning” Olha Reshetylova she emphasized that "the administration of justice must be an element in achieving justice." "Ukraine's history over the past nine years is being written in the courts. Based on the verdicts issued and the information in case files, our children and grandchildren will study the history of our struggle," the speaker said.
Yuliya Tyshchenkoan expert at the National Platform for Resilience and Cohesion, noted that throughout the entire post‑independence period Ukraine has lacked a "culture of justice." She also said: "Our society intuitively understood that justice exists, but saw too little of it around them. Therefore, instrumentalizing this process will be a major challenge for Ukraine. The more effective the instruments for achieving justice are, the more effective our resilience and development will be in the future."
Speakers also discussed the elements of achieving justice and its unequivocal understanding and perception after the war in Ukraine.
Oksana Koliadahead of projects at the NGO "Space of Opportunities," shared the results of a survey of veterans about their understanding of justice.
"The results of our research show that veterans definitely do not see 'the principle of vigilante justice' in this concept. Seventy‑five percent of respondents see justice in the application of lawful legal mechanisms and in holding those responsible for war crimes to account. Veterans also expressed willingness and a desire to be involved in the process of holding perpetrators accountable," the speaker said.
Nadiya Volkova, director Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group she also noted that if judicial processes are ineffective and of poor quality, achieving sustainable peace is only a dream.
"Justice related to armed conflicts has two dimensions: international and national. We must understand that the foundation of justice is high‑quality and effective judicial processes. Thus, no international legal institution will provide us with a sufficient sense of justice until we build our own mechanism to achieve it," added Nadiya Volkova.
Watch the full recording of the panel discussion via the link: https://forum.ednannia.ua/online-discussion-1.html