REGULATION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF COMBATANTS IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Abstract

The article examines the issues of regulation of criminal liability of combatants in international humanitarian law. Philosophical, general scientific conceptual approaches, as well as approaches and methods characteristic of modern legal science, which were required by the problem, became the methodological basis of the scientific work. In the course of the research, it was found that the criminal liability of combatants is enshrined in both conventions and statutory documents, which together form the basis of international humanitarian law. The analysis of the norms of international humanitarian law made it possible to establish that the convention norms contain prohibitions against the commission of actions – war crimes by combatants within the limits of armed conflicts, the non-compliance of which is recognized as serious violations of international humanitarian law. Individual responsibility is outlined through the establishment of restrictive mechanisms aimed at protecting persons who do not participate or have stopped participating in armed conflicts, regulation of the conduct of armed conflict, and limitation of violence during armed conflict. Such norms have a high level of generalization and do not contain an appropriate mechanism for bringing combatants to criminal responsibility, specific obligations of the participating states and mechanisms for monitoring their implementation, which requires systematic development, in particular, clarification of the composition of crimes, determination of the degree of their public danger, etc. by national law. It was found that the principle of individual responsibility of combatants, as well as jurisdiction over war crimes, their content is contained in the statutes of the International Military Tribunals and the International Criminal Court, on the basis of which they function. The activity of the Tribunals contributed to the emergence of precedent decisions, which are an effective legal means of implementing international humanitarian law in terms of stopping its violations, given the recognized legal grounds for qualifying certain behavior as an inte-rnational offense, established elements of international offenses, components of international crimes, etc.