22 Shares The Crime of Aggression, Selectivity, and the Legal Academy NOVEMBER 22, 2022 by Digital Editor Janko Ferlic - Unsplash By Md. Rizwanul Islam Russian aggression against Ukraine, by flouting the law of the use of force, has been widely condemned by the international community. Although the condemnation is overwhelming, the actions taken to pursue justice are varied. Some of the crimes that Russian perpetrators are being tried for raise grave moral questions and expose the extent of the role that selectivity plays in international law. Russian conduct in Ukraine presents an opportunity to rethink this selectivity, especially in the context of states failing to pay enough attention to the act of Russian aggression in favor of focusing on the crimes that have since followed it. The initial act of Russian aggression against Ukraine demonstrates the hypocrisy of many actors who seek to respond to the outcome of aggression rather than the wrongful act of initial aggression itself. In doing this, the actors focus not on outlawing war itself but on a less-important question of conducting war in a legal or ‘humane’ way. Emphasis on the compliance of jus in bello with scant regard to jus ad bellum is not humane. The international legal academy should be more assertive in condemning aggression for what it is – a grotesque violation of contemporary international law. Selectivity and Its Consequences Many Western leaders have labeled the events in Ukraine as “war crimes” or “crimes against humanity” and vowed to ensure the accountability of the perpetrators. For instance, United States President Joseph Biden said that, “[Putin] is a war criminal, but we have to gather the information…We have to gather all the detail so [there] can be an actual [] war crime trial.” In this quote, President Biden does not mention the word “aggression,” due to a possible ceasefire negotiation at the time between Russian and American BACK TO BLOG Georgetown Journal of International Law CONTACT & ABOUT US SUBMISSIONS IN PRINT SUBSCRIBE PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS THE GJIL BLOG ONLINE ARCHIVES SYMPOSIUM