Conceptual Approaches to the International Legal Definition of the Concept of «Aggression» and the Problems of Improving Russian Legislation

Based on the study of doctrinal sources, contractual legal regulation and judicial practice materials, the paper defines legal models for the establishment of acts of aggression: the Nuremberg-Tokyo model (as a contractual one, only stating the fact of aggressive war and to a certain extent functional for the purpose of establishing individual criminal responsibility) and the universal UN model (or a political and legal model related to the establishment of an act of aggression as a violation of the territorial integrity or political independence of states and with the subsequent transfer of the case to the International Criminal Court for prosecution to bring the perpetrators to justice). There is a tendency to overestimate the «internationality» in defining acts of aggression by removing national jurisdictions from the possibility of qualifying acts of armed attack by stating the statutory authority of the UN Security Council in determining the committed act of aggression (Article 39 of the UN Charter). The «regional» and «bilateral» models of countering acts of aggression within the framework of fulfilling allied obligations are considered. An objective model of suppressing an armed attack and its consequences is proposed as a subjective imputation by the injured state (group of states) of committing an act of aggression to the aggressor state (group of states), which can be implemented in the legislation and law enforcement practice of Russia. The paper reflects the main points from the speech delivered by Professor Batyr on May 28, 2024 at a round table in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the topic «The concept of aggression in international law and Russian doctrinal documents».