RECRUITMENT OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 15 INTO THE NATIONAL ARMED FORCES OR THEIR USE FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN HOSTILITIES: QUALIFICATION ISSUES

Abstrakt

The article focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of recruiting children under the age of 15 into the national armed forces or their use for active participation in hostilities in armed conflicts as an expression of exploitation. The main emphasis is on determining the qualification characteristics of this form of exploitation, given that war crimes fall into the category of the most serious international offenses that undermine the foundations of international peace and security. International humanitarian law, which serves as a regulator of relations between states in the aspect of protecting victims of war and establishing restrictions on methods and means of warfare, acts as a key element of the study. The purpose of the study is to expand the existing understanding of the mechanisms of regulation and responsibility for acts related to the exploitation of children in conditions of armed conflict on the example of Ukraine. The specific focus of the study is a detailed consideration of the use of children under the age of 15 in armed conflicts as a separate form of human exploitation, taking into account the peculiarities of the article of the Ukrainian criminal legislation, namely Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "Violation of laws and customs of war." The study covers the analysis of international legal standards, international humanitarian law, as well as the development of recommendations for eliminating existing gaps in Ukrainian legislation. The results of such a study are to study the specifics of the exploitation of children in armed conflicts and its correlation with international standards; establishing the boundaries of qualification characteristics as a form of human exploitation; identification of gaps – identification of possible gaps or inaccuracies in legislation, which can help in improving the regulatory framework; recommendations for changes, which is to submit specific recommendations for the legislative bodies of Ukraine in order to improve the norms governing the exploitation of children in war; analysis of the consequences of the exploitation of children in armed conflicts for society and the individual. The paper presents such a concept as mobilization of children under the age of fifteen and proposes its own norm of criminal legislation as a recommendation for the possible use of this norm in the international legal field, which is aimed at countering the exploitation of children under the age of 15 in armed conflicts.