CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR INVOLVING CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study responsibility for involving children in armed conflicts. In order to achievethe declared goal and obtain the appropriate research results, the following combination of methods was used:methods of formal logic, comparative legal method, method of content analysis and formal logical method. Results and conclusions of such activities. Children, as objects of systemic discrimination and manifestationsof violence, are the least protected category of the population and need additional guarantees for the realizationand protection of their rights and interests, especially during crisis situations, in particular armed conflicts.During armed conflicts, children’s rights are violated, such as: the right to life and health, the right to safety,the right to education and personal development, the right to stay with the family, the right to protection fromthe state, etc. Among the six UN Security Council Resolutions, violations of children’s rights in the frameworkof armed conflicts are singled out as “recruitment of children to the armed forces and use in hostilities”, becauseaccording to international human rights organizations, about 250,000 child soldiers participate in morethan 30 armed conflicts. Forms of involvement of children in armed conflicts include the role of correctionalofficers and spies, forced mobilization of minors in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, recruitmentby representatives of the occupation authorities to participate in illegal armed formations, involvement inthe collection of information on the placement and movement of armed forces, assistance in the constructionof military facilities, involvement to military exercises, ensuring the livelihood of the occupiers, guardingand patrolling the streets and prisoners, etc. International humanitarian law, based on customary norms,categorically condemns the use of children under the age of 15 in armed conflicts as soldiers, recognizes suchactions as a war crime and obliges states to monitor the violation of children’s rights in armed conflicts and toinvestigate cases of illegal involvement of children in participation in hostilities. The ban on the involvementof children in armed conflicts is also reflected in the national legislation of Ukraine, however, the legislationdoes not contain a norm that would directly indicate responsibility in the case of the involvement of minors inmilitary operations as part of the country’s legal military formations. In connection with this, it is considerednecessary to define a separate norm in the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the recruitment and useof children in hostilities and armed conflicts.