Legal regulation of bullying in the national legislation

Abstract

Keywords: bullying, signs of bullying, forms of bullying, participants of bullying,children, violence in an educational institution, bullying of a participant in the educationalprocess, anti-bullying legislation, judicial practice, liability for bullying, bullyingprevention
 The aimof the article is to analyse the new provisions of the legal acts of Ukraine in the sphere ofprevention and counteraction to bullying. The term "bullying" has recently appeared inUkrainian legislation from January 19, 2019. The Anti-bullying Law amended the Lawon Education and the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. This Law for the firsttime introduced the concept of bullying of a participant in the educational process intothe Ukrainian legal field, defined its typical features, forms, introduced administrativeliability for bullying. Currently, the existing norms provide only for bullying of participantsin the educational process, among the participants of which must be a child. Amechanism for responding to cases of bullying provides only in educational institutions(except those that provide adult education). Conflicts that arise between participantsfrom different educational institutions can’t be classified as bullying. It should be notedthat today the law does not cover cases of bullying by participants in the health and educationalprocess in children's health and recreation facilities, as well as bullying of participantsin the training process in institutions of physical culture and sports.There is an administrative liability for bullying in Ukraine. Children are prosecutedfor bullying from the age of 16. If the bully is not 16 years old, the parents are responsiblefor it. Heads of educational institutions are also prosecuted if they do not report aboutbullying to the police. The statistics of bullying cases considered by courts in 2019 (248),in 2020 (265) show the implementation of anti-bullying legislation. Of course, these statisticsare not indicative of the real scale of bullying. We can say that it still remains in alatent (hidden) state. A UNICEF survey in Ukraine (2017) found that 67% of Ukrainianchildren aged 11-17 have seen bullying in the last three months, 24% of children havebeen bullied and 48% have not told anyone. Nevertheless, the law is in action, it is new,and it takes time to implement it. Responsibility is a recognition at the state level thatbullying is violence, it is not the norm, it must be understood by all participants in theeducational process.Bullying is the basis for civil liability. Bullying is an act of wrongful harm involvingchildren. The court’s decision that establish the fact of bullying in accordance with theCode of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses is evidence in a civil case of compensationfor moral and material damage.Bullying is the basis for disciplinary action against teachers. Because bullying is animmoral act for which the teacher can be fired.The author has analysed a significant number of court decisions that deal with bullyingissues. On the basis of the study, the problematic aspects of legal regulation of bullyingwere identified and proposals were formulated to amend the current legislation.