Today, the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced the creation of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), a mechanism aimed at ensuring efficient coordination of their respective support to accountability efforts on the ground. The ACA will reinforce current EU, US and UK efforts to further accountability for atrocity crimes in the context of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. It advances commitments made by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom to demonstrate international support and solidarity at this crucial historical moment for Ukraine.

The overarching mission of the ACA is to support the War Crimes Units of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes. The ACA seeks to streamline coordination and communication efforts to ensure best practices, avoid duplication of efforts, and encourage the expeditious deployment of financial resources and skilled personnel to respond to the needs of the OPG as the legally constituted authority in Ukraine responsible for dealing with the prosecution of war crimes on its own territory.

EU High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said:

It is critical to ensure that all those responsible for the terrible atrocities committed during the unprovoked Russian military aggression in Ukraine are brought to justice. There can be no impunity for war crimes. The Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group will be providing advice and supporting the ongoing efforts of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s War Crimes Units to collect, preserve, and analyze evidence of atrocities to help the investigations and ensure justice takes its course.

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said:

This initiative will directly support efforts by the Ukrainian Office of the Prosecutor General to document, preserve, and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities committed by members of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, with a view toward criminal prosecutions. The ACA is an essential element of the United States’ commitment that those responsible for such crimes will be held to account.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:

We are determined to ensure those responsible for the vile atrocities committed in Ukraine are held to account. The UK has already made a clear commitment to supporting Ukraine in its investigations, including through deploying war crimes experts to the region and releasing additional funding to aid the ICC in their investigations. We are now stepping up our efforts through this landmark initiative with our partners in the US and EU. Justice will be done.

General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova said:

There is ample evidence of the atrocities committed by Russia’s forces on the territory of Ukraine against civilians, including children. The creation of this support group and the advice of international experts with experience in other international criminal tribunals and national criminal law practice will help the ongoing work of our teams in investigating and prosecuting these crimes.

Operational support

The ACA will bring together multinational experts to provide strategic advice and operational assistance to OPG specialists and other stakeholders in areas such as collection and preservation of evidence, operational analysis, investigation of conflict-related sexual violence, crime scene and forensic investigations, drafting of indictments, and co-operation with international and national accountability mechanisms. This engagement with the OPG and other justice, law enforcement and security agencies of Ukraine has been and will continue to be driven by the needs of the Ukrainian government and the parameters of its support will be developed in close consultation with the OPG.

To this end, it will closely associate its activities with the ongoing operational work taking place in cooperation with EU Member States, partner third countries and the International Criminal Court, including the Joint Investigation Team coordinated by Eurojust.

The ACA brings together a multi-national group of war crimes experts from European Union countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. Due to the current security situation in Ukraine, the experts are primarily based in south-eastern Poland but are operationally engaged in Ukraine, including by means of short-term missions and on-site interaction with the OPG staff and other international partners engaged. As the security situation permits, it is anticipated that experts and support staff will relocate entirely to Ukraine.

The ACA activity will cover coordination of two key elements: 

• Advisory Group to the OPG: Experienced senior war crimes prosecutors, investigators, military analysts, forensic specialists, and other experts based in the region on an ongoing basis provide expertise, mentoring, advice and operational support to the OPG and to the field-level Mobile Justice Teams, as well as a wider range of state and non-state actors.

• Mobile Justice Teams: Several Mobile Justice Teams (MJTs) are being created and deployed to increase the capacity of the OPG War Crimes Unit and regional prosecutors to conduct field investigations. The MJTs will be composed of both international and Ukrainian experts and will be deployed at the request of the OPG to assist Ukraine’s investigators on the ground. They will be part of the holistic chain for documentation, investigation and prosecution of grave international crimes that is led by the OPG.

The ACA is supported by the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice (GCJ) and Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). ACA partners include the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Global Rights Compliance, and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO).

On the EU side, coordination will be ensured by the European External Action Service (EEAS), through the EU Delegation to Ukraine, in coordination with the European Commission, the EU Project Pravo-Justice II and the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM).

The UK contribution will be coordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other relevant UK Government Departments.

Wiffen pleaded guilty at Hastings Magistrates’ Court. The 29-year-old was fined £40 and imposed a £34 victim surcharge and £65 in costs.

The penalties totalled £139 – more than 4 times the cost of a £30, 12-month, 2-rod trout and coarse fishing licence, and 3 times that of a £45 3-rod equivalent fishing licence.*

Enforcement team leader for the Environment Agency, Lesley Robertson, said:

This case shows we pursue offenders through the courts and won’t hesitate to take enforcement action where anglers break rules. Anyone found fishing illegally may face prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.

All anglers need a valid Environment Agency fishing licence. The money raised through the sales of fishing licences is re-invested and enables us to improve all fisheries, including rivers, for anglers and for wildlife.

Our fisheries enforcement officers routinely undertake licence checks, and we urge anyone with information about illegal fishing to contact us on 0800 807060.

Licences now run 365 days from the day of purchase offering 12 full months of fishing.

Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence. A 1-day licence costs from just £6, and an annual licence costs from just £30. Concessions are available. Junior licences are free for 13 to 16-year-olds.

For more information or to buy a fishing licence visit the GOV.UK website or call the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386. Alternatively, you can purchase a licence from your local Post Office branch.

The Environment Agency carries out enforcement work all year round and is supported by police forces and the Angling Trust. Fisheries enforcement work is intelligence-led, targeting known hot-spots and where illegal fishing is reported.

Anyone with information about illegal fishing activities should report it to our incident hotline number 0800 807060. You can also report it to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Adam Wiffen pleaded guilty to breaching Section 27(1)(a) of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. He was sentenced at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 29 April.

*£45 is the cost of a 12-month trout and coarse 3-rod fishing licence. £30 is the cost of a 12-month trout and coarse 2-rod fishing licence.

Earlier today Sue Gray published her final report,

which I commissioned to get to the bottom of things and set the record straight,

and I’m grateful to her for her work.

She has identified a number of failings,

some official,

some political,

– and some that I accept are entirely my own, for which I take full responsibility.

I want to start by saying that I am humbled by what happened,

and I renew my wholehearted apology for the gathering in the Cabinet Room on the 19th June 2020 – my birthday,

for which I received a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Now that Sue Gray has completed her inquiry and everyone can read her report,

I want in all humility and without mitigating what has happened to offer a few points of context.

10 Downing Street is not just my official residence but the headquarters of the Government,

where hundreds of people work,

and because they directly support the Prime Minister,

the regulations allowed them to continue attending their offices for work purposes throughout the lockdowns.

Sue Gray describes them as “tight knit groups of officials and advisers” who “worked long hours under difficult conditions”.

These were the public servants who secured the PPE that saved many lives,

established the biggest testing programme in Europe,

and enabled the development and distribution of the vaccines that succeeded in protecting so many people.

When some of these officials and advisers were leaving their jobs, I briefly attended gatherings to thank them for everything they had done

because I believe that recognising achievement and preserving morale

are essential duties of leadership.

The police did not find my attendance at these occasions to be in breach of the rules,

but they found otherwise in respect of some of those gatherings after I had left,

or when I was not in the building.

Downing Street and the Cabinet Office together have hundreds of rooms,

and again I say this not in any way to extenuate my personal responsibility, but to give the context of these events.

And I was appalled to learn that there have been “multiple examples” in Sue Gray’s phrase of disrespectful and poor treatment of cleaning and security personnel,

and this afternoon, I personally apologised to those dedicated members of staff for what happened.

and I expect anyone who behaved in that way to do the same.

As Sue Gray acknowledges,

I have acted on her recommendations to make a series of changes.

10 Downing Street now has its own Permanent Secretary charged with upholding the highest standards.

I have appointed a new leadership team, including a new Chief of Staff and a new Principal Private Secretary

and I have made it easier for any member of staff to voice any worries they may have

and Sue Gray writes that she is “reassured” by this reform.

And it is precisely because I have learned this lesson

that I feel an even greater weight of responsibility

to deliver on the priorities of the British people,

and lead our country through some of the most challenging times in recent history.

I will work every hour to ease the hardship caused by the rising cost of living,

To protect our nation from the aftershocks of Covid,

stand firm against Putin’s aggression,

and to unite and level up across our United Kingdom,

that is the mission that drives this government and that is the mission that I will continue to pursue.

The UK and Vietnam held their first Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) in three years today (25 May 2022) in a bid to increase cooperation across several sectors, including education, agriculture, technology, healthcare and renewable energy.

The Minister of State for Trade Policy, Penny Mordaunt, welcomed her Vietnamese counterpart, Mr Dang Hoang An, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade, to London for the talks.

Minister of State for Trade Policy Penny Mordaunt said:

I am delighted to host Mr Dang Hoang An and his team in London. Vietnam is growing fast and is expected to become one of the world’s major economies by 2050. They are a vital CPTPP member, and an important trading partner for the UK that demonstrates our Indo-Pacific tilt in action.

Our talks today strengthen ties between our nations, including resolving market access barriers into each other’s economies and providing support to Vietnam so that they can reach their net-zero commitments.

The UK will reinforce its commitment to helping Vietnam meet their net zero goals by sharing expertise in the renewable energy sector and hosting a Forum for UK and Vietnamese businesses. Minister Mordaunt will host a roundtable on renewable energy attended by experts, industry representatives and officials.

The UK and Vietnam share a longstanding trading relationship, with trade increasing between the two countries by almost 11% from 2020, when the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement was signed, and 2021. This agreement eliminates 99% of all tariffs and helps forge a deeper relationship with a country who shares our belief in free trade.

Vietnam is a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which the UK remains on track to join by the end of this year, moving into the final phase of negotiations at the beginning of 2022.

CPTPP is a free trade area made up of 11 countries with a joint GDP of £9 trillion.