Investigations of War Crimes in Ukraine
Guest Lecture on April 16, 2024, 5 pm
Guest lecture by Klaus Hoffmann (Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, ACA) | Date, time: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 5–7 pm | Venue: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Fürstenbergstr. 19 | Guests are welcome, please register.
Abstract:
The Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) supports the Ukrainian Office of the General Prosecutor in its challenging efforts to investigate and prosecute mass atrocity crimes in the context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Klaus Hoffmann, an expert member of this group will report about his work in Ukraine, the legal challenges of applying national criminal law as well as the practical problems of investigating and prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression during the ongoing war. He will also comment on the issue of “trials in absentia”.
Klaus Hoffmann commenced his career as a judge in Lahr, Germany, specializing in the area of private law. He became a prosecutor in the field of criminal law before serving as a legal officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, Office of the Prosecution, 2005–2010). Having worked in departments for drug trafficking and organized crime and international legal assistance for many years, he was appointed department head of the Freiburg public prosecutor’s office in 2018. Throughout his career, he has also been a visiting lecturer in the EU and beyond, mainly concentrating on international criminal law, cybercrime investigations, and international cooperation. In May 2022, he joined the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), a group of international prosecutors, investigators, and analysts who are supporting the Ukrainian prosecution service in investigating and prosecuting international atrocity crimes in Ukraine.