Provisions Of International Humanitarian Law Research Articles

The Violation of the Laws of Armed Conflict in the Ukrainian and Polish Dimension: The Criminal Law Discourse

The current Criminal Code of Ukraine has shown that it can effectively respond to the challenges associated with the war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Chapter XX of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine contains a number of articles that qualify the criminal acts of Russian occupiers. First of all, this is Article 438 “Violation of the laws and customs of war”. In its content, it largely reflects the compliance of Ukrainian national criminal law with the provisions of international law in the field of the regulation of responsibility for committing criminal violations of international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflicts). A comparative legal analysis of Ukrainian and Polish legislation was carried out in terms of criminal liability for the violation of the laws and customs of war. Criminal violations of international humanitarian law are punishable under Articles 122–126 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Poland. A detailed analysis of the content of these articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Poland showed a significant difference between the norms of the Polish criminal law in terms of detailing the acts that the Polish legislator defined as a violation of international humanitarian law. In particular, in addition to the general concept of the civilian population, the Polish criminal law proposes as victims persons laying down their arms or having no means of protection, the surrendered, the wounded, the sick, the shipwrecked, medical personnel, the clergy, unifying the concept of all persons enjoying international protection during armed hostilities. This position of the Polish legislator is more constructive and more closely connected with the relevant international legal acts than the corresponding norm of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In addition, § 2 of Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Poland provides an expanded understanding of ill-treatment of victims, which is not found in Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Also, the Ukrainian legislator ignored those violations of international humanitarian law which are indicated in Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Poland – which also works in favour of the Polish criminal law, as it tries to comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law to a greater extent.

Evolutivni razvoj i međunarodnopravna regulativa plaćeništva

Mercenary, as a social phenomenon, is a constant companion of the historical development of humanity. There have always been, and still are, individuals, independently or organized in groups, who will offer their services of skills and knowledge of warfare on the world market. On the other hand, in the long series of centuries of human existence, almost everyone who had a sufficient amount of money and had a clearly expressed interest in and goal for such a thing hired individuals skilled in warrior skills and other knowledge and abilities that could be used on the battlefield for the realization of various economic, political, geo-economic, and geo-political goals of their employers. The use of private violence was brought under state control after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, where regular military service is the key guarantor of the cumulative survival of the relevant elements of statehood, i.e. the exercise of sovereign powers. However, this did not abolish the practice of mercenary work, but changed it somewhat and adapted it to the new social circumstances. Through the process of social evolution, mercenary military units are transformed into efficient, highly profitable and modern corporate structures which employ diverse, highly qualified personnel, manage them, and provide a wide range of military and security services to various and numerous state and non-state entities - clients. For modern times, in this sense, the appearance and actions of mercenaries during the decolonization process-conventional mercenary formations, on the one hand, and private military companies as a sort of contemporary quasi-mercenary phenomenon which do not themselves fit into the glossary, on the other-are indicative of the socalled legal qualification of classic mercenaries as they are recognized and explained by the key international documents in the field. The very emergence of private military companies led to a fundamental disruption in the perception of the term mercenary. It is no longer contained by, nor capable of being a strictly individual phenomenon. Also, over time, private individuals, multinational corporations, and even internationa organizations are becoming more and more prevalent among the interested parties seeking to hire mercenary services, in addition to the state and its agents. International documents pertinent to the mercenary issue are Supplementary Protocol I (from 1977) and two conventions specifically created for this issue-the UN Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing, and Training of Mercenaries (from 1989) and the Convention of the Organization of African Unity for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa (from 1977). In these documents, mercenaries are "stigmatized" as the only entity of interest in international humanitarian law devoid of any legal protection within that particular subsystem of international law. However, the definition of a mercenary is quite restrictive. The provisions concerning the conditions and circumstances under which a person can be treated, that is, declared a mercenary, are difficult to apply in practice. Due to the restrictive nature of their "defining" aspects, the existing rules on mercenaries are difficult to apply in practice and make it difficult to achieve the ultimate goal of those international documents, which is to suppress and prosecute perpetrators of incriminated mercenary behavior and mercenary practices. On the other hand, the mercenary category is not very helpful when it comes to the qualification and legal positioning of private military companies as international corporate enterprises, which include various military potentials, military or paramilitary assets, personal skills and specialties of the employed personnel, and whose main goal is to make a profit, i.e. profit. Although they are often defined as mercenaries in public discourse, private military companies deviate from representations shaped by reminiscences from the distant and recent past, primarily military mercenaries from the Middle Ages, times of religious wars, colonial conquests, and participants in post-colonial wars of the 20th century, which were particularly infamous for violating international humanitarian law and human rights during the suppression of national liberation movements on African and Asian soil. The key difference between conventional mercenaries and private military companies, apart from the fact that mercenaries are criminalized by the provisions of international humanitarian law, is the existence of a corporate element in the provision of military services. This security sector is still not precisely defined and legally shaped, but it is undoubtedly influenced by the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and other subsets of the international law system that would be directly or indirectly involved in the activities of these organizations or their employees in such delicate and important areas of international life as security and the use of force in international relations are.

War crimes on the territory of Ukraine in the conditions of the international armed conflict of the 21st century

From the first day of the invasion until today, the Russian Federation violates the laws and customs of war and massively commits war crimes on the territory of Ukraine, which are a serious violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law and pose a threat to the entire international community, for which criminal responsibility is provided both internationally and national levels. In particular, the international legal acts that codify international humanitarian law (laws of armed conflicts, laws of war) and contain a list of war crimes committed in the context of an international armed conflict are:а) Convention on the Laws and Customs of Land War (excerpt) of July 29, 1899 No. 995_765;b) IV Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations on the Laws and Customs of War on Land dated October 18, 1907 No. 995_222;c) Geneva Conventions (Convention for the Amelioration of the Fate of the Wounded and Sick in Active Armies (Geneva Convention I) of August 12, 1949 № 995_151, Convention for the Amelioration of the Fate of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of the Armed Forces at Sea (Geneva Convention II) of August 12, 1949 № 995_152, Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Geneva Convention III) of August 12, 1949 № 995_153, Geneva Convention for the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War (Geneva Convention IV) of August 12, 1949 № 995_154);d) Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 (Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) of June 8, 1977 № 995_199 and Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 Relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol II) of December 8, 2005 № 995_200);g) The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of July 17, 1998 No. 995_588, which systematizes a complete list of socially dangerous acts that belong to war crimes and were regulated by many sources of international humanitarian law.In the current criminal legislation of Ukraine, criminal liability for war crimes is regulated in Chapter XX of the Criminal Code of Ukraine («Criminal Offenses Against Peace, Human Security and International Legal Order»), namely in Art. 438 – «Violation of the laws and customs of war».

Justice in war crimes cases in Ukraine: the first challenges

Justice in war crimes cases in Ukraine: the first challenges. Mass atrocities during the full-scale phase of armed aggression against Ukraine inevitably bring up the issue of justice and prosecuting those suspected of committing war crimes. Considering the role of the judiciary, which is essential in a state based on the rule of law as the guarantor of justice, both Ukrainian society and the legal community should be interested in ensuring that the war crimes trials as well as verdicts meet the generally recognized standards of justice. Based on the analysis of verdicts concerning Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (CCU) (violation of the laws and customs of war) issued after the beginning of the full-scale invasion and available in the State registry of court decisions in 19 criminal proceedings, the author identified the challenges that Ukrainian courts face when considering war crimes cases. In 14 criminal proceedings, the defendants were citizens of the Russian Federation (in 13 – servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, in 1 – also members of a private military company), in 5 – citizens of Ukraine. 15 verdicts out of 19 became final, i.e. 9 of them were not appealed, 1 was changed by a court of appeal, 1 was upheld, and in 4 cases, the appeal proceedings were closed due to the withdrawal of appeals by the accused. War crimes cases are considered new for the Ukrainian judiciary. Therefore, the knowledge of criminal justice system personnel on basic provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Criminal Law is very limited, which resulted in the incorrect qualification of crimes committed in the ATO zone in 2014-2021 as either terrorism or ordinary criminal cases, although some of them had features of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The lack of knowledge on IHL remains relevant even after the full-scale invasion. The author identified it as a key challenge Ukrainian judiciary face when considering criminal proceedings concerning Art. 438 of the CCU. It should be emphasized, however, that according to the Criminal Procedure Code (Art. 337) the court is limited by the charges in the indictment and may go beyond the indictment only if it improves the situation of the accused person. Therefore, courts avoid any actions caused by the shortcomings of the indictment which might be interpreted as worsening the situation of the accused, even if it affects the quality of decisions. Thus, courts do not indicate specific provisions of international treaties to which Art. 438 CCU is referring (i.e. Geneva Conventions or Additional Protocol I) if they are not mentioned in the indictment or use the extensive description of the international armed conflict, which prevails over the assessment of the “nexus” of specific conduct of the accused to the armed conflict. Some other challenges Ukrainian judiciary face when considering war crimes cases including proportionality of the punishment and the impartiality of the judiciary, which were highlighted starting with the first trial in the Shishimarin case. Key words: justice, rule of law, court, violation of laws and customs of war, war crimes.

Features of pre-trial investigation of crimes against sexual integrity of children, committed in conditions of armed conflict

The relevance of the article is due to the fact that many children have been taken out of the country since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and the purpose of the people who facilitated their movement across the state border was not always good.
 Also, today our law enforcement and judicial system does not have access to the temporarily occupied territories, which contributes to the commission of crimes related to the violation of sexual freedom and integrity.
 The purpose of the article is to develop recommendations for optimizing the pre-trial investigation of crimes against the sexual integrity of children committed in the context of armed conflict.
 When gathering evidence in proceedings related to sexual violence related to armed conflict, one should take into account the obstacles that may stand in the way during: inspection of the scene of the incident (based on objective circumstances, it may be impossible to reach and conduct an inspection of the scene of the incident due to its destruction, location in the temporarily occupied territory or in the combat zone); interrogation of witnesses and victims (the whereabouts of witnesses may be unknown or they may be out of reach (go abroad or to another area); the victim may be depressed, refuse to testify due to despair that the offender will be punished , or because of the fear of his revenge; the interrogation of minors or juvenile victims and witnesses may be complicated due to the impossibility of fulfilling the requirements of Article 226 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and applying the "Green Room" technique); taking readings of technical devices and technical means that have the functions of photo, film, video recording, or photo, film, video recording; obtaining samples for examination (a long time may pass from the moment of sexual violence, in connection with which, in particular, traces of biological origin may be destroyed).
 It is concluded that sexual violence against children is covered by the concept of "violation of the laws and customs of war" and can be qualified under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with mandatory consideration of the provisions of international humanitarian law.
 It is also important to consider the obstacles that may stand in the way of bringing to justice persons who are reasonably suspected of committing crimes of the specified category.

THE RESPECT FOR FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS DURING AND AFTER THE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN WAR

The normative and practical value of protecting civilians during armed conflicts and respecting the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms even in international armed conflicts is an undeniable one. Changing the forms and means used in armed struggles leads to violations of the provisions of international humanitarian law. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Georgia v. Russia has made a connection between the fundamental rights included in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the rights protected by the laws of armed conflicts, a decision of particular importance in the current security context in South-Eastern Europe

International protection of older persons during armed conflicts

In the article is was analyzed the provisions of international humanitarian law (Convention (IV) relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war (1949), Commentary on the Convention (1958) etc.) regarding the protection of the older people It is noted that international humanitarian law provides protection to the older people as members of the civilian population, because it is not based on categories of persons and protects all persons who do not take part in hostilities. It is indicated that the provisions of the Convention (IV) relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war (1949) contain norms that directly affect the older people, in particular, regarding the creation of sanitary and safe zones and areas that make it possible to protect the older people from the consequences of the war; conclusion of local agreements on evacuation from besieged or surrounded areas, including the older people. Emphasis is placed on the question of determining the specific age of the older people, and it is noted that in the commentary to the Fourth Convention, the Conference refrained from defining a specific age, preferring to leave this issue to the discretion of governments. Attention is paid to the issue of violations of the rights of the older people during armed conflicts (pushing elderly people who could not run back into burning houses; cruel treatment during departure or in camps for displaced persons; problems with registration and receiving humanitarian aid; execution of older people etc.). It is noted that older people who have become victims of armed conflicts in many parts of the world face serious problems and obstacles. Factors affecting the vulnerability of older people during armed conflicts are outlined (being in war zones due to the inability to evacuate or protect family property; limited mobility; isolation; loss of contact with family etc.). Attention is focused on the problems in this area. Appropriate conclusions are drawn.

Protection of property rights under special legal regimes

In the scientific article, based on the analysis of scientific sources, the provisions of the current legislation and the practice of its application, with the help of general scientific and special methods of knowledge, the essence of property rights is revealed, and their characterization is carried out. It has been proven that the conceptual principles and provisions of the legislation, which should be relied upon when solving issues related to property rights, along with the norms of private and public law, are also contained in the provisions of international humanitarian law, which regulates the relevant legal relations in conditions of war. Attention is focused on the fact that in the event of a military conflict, the state is obliged to introduce appropriate legal mechanisms for compensation of the value of property, housing, land, in case of failure to ensure the possibility of returning to it or its destruction. It was concluded that it is necessary to develop and introduce a comprehensive law that will take into account all aspects of legal relations regarding ownership, use and disposal of property by individuals and legal entities.

Legal Regulation of Environmental Protection during Armed Conflicts on the Example of Ukraine

The article analyzes the impact of military operations on the state of ecosystems and individual natural resources in Ukraine. Based on the analysis of Ukrainian and foreign sources, it was made a conclusion about the catastrophic damage to the environment caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation. In particular, the environmental damage as of September 2022 is estimated at almost 1 trillion hryvnias and continues to grow daily.
 Taking into account the fact that the impact on the environment during armed conflicts almost always has a transboundary nature, author analyzed the provisions of international acts that regulate this problem. These are the Stockholm Declaration (1972); the World Charter of Nature; the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992); the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques; Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts; Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction. It was established that all the mentioned documents call on the international community to take measures for preventing or minimizing the destructive impact on the environment during military operations.
 The author paid particular attention to Ukrainian legislation. The Instruction on the Procedure for Implementing the Norms of International Humanitarian Law in the Armed Forces of Ukraine requires following the provisions of international humanitarian law, including, in the context of environmental protection. In the Basic Principles (Strategy) of the State Environmental Policy of Ukraine for the Period Until 2030, it is noted that it is absolutely necessary to solve the issue of access to the objects of the military-defense industrial complex in order to carry out appropriate supervision and control over compliance with environmental legislation at these objects. A separate block of normative acts is devoted to the legal regulation of the procedure and methods of determining damage and losses caused to the environment of Ukraine as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
 Despite the fact that the war continues, the development of normative acts aimed at regulating the reconstruction of destroyed or damaged territories and objects is already being observed. The author analyzed some of them, identified shortcomings and proposed ways to eliminate them.

Criminal law characterization of civil combat immunity

The study recognizes that the need for normative regulation of combat immunity is determined by the external aggression against Ukraine, which began in 2014. After a full-scale invasion of the enemy in Ukraine, it became necessary to engage not only military personnel, but also civilians that caused the need for legislative regulation of civilian combat immunity. The article deals with the problems of criminal law regulation of civilian combat immunity. The complex of normative legal acts that define the legal nature, the content and the basis of the civil combat immunity. It is defined that due to connection with the fact that the civil combat immunity is an absolute novelty for the national legislation, in the scientific space there are no scientific works devoted to the analysis of this topic and related to it. It is justified why this particular immunity is combative and civil. The problematic features of the subject composition of persons that have the right for civilian combat immunity. The conclusion is made about the possibility of granting such immunity to any person who performs acts of defense of Ukraine against an act of external aggression against it. Emphasis is also placed on the peculiarities of the definition of a person as civilian, which gives the right to receive exactly this type of immunity. The need to use the provisions of international humanitarian law to define this category of person is also determined. Problems of interpretation and practical application of certain criminal law norms regulating the exemption from criminal responsibility of a person who has civilian combat immunity are established. It is defined that the key to the solution of this issue is not the possession of Ukrainian citizenship, but the desire to defend Ukraine from aggression and to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Taking economic and social rights earnestly: What does international human rights law offer persons with disabilities in situations of armed conflict?

AbstractThis article studies the economic and social rights of people with disabilities in times of armed conflict. While hostilities prevent them from accessing the essential goods and services that they rely on to enjoy these rights, the topic has attracted little attention to date. Calling upon international human rights law, the article applies the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with a view to complementing the provisions of international humanitarian law. It focuses on the requirements above the provision of medical care and examines the legal obligations attached to economic and social rights.

المسؤولية الجنائية الدولية والوطنية لموظفي الشركات العسكرية والأمنية الخاصة

The world is witnessing many armed conflicts, which played a prominent role in tearing the countries that were exposed to those conflicts, and therefore these conflicts prompted governments that are experiencing internal or external conflicts and turmoil to seek the assistance of private military and security companies in order to maintain their rule, and the services provided by these companies are Several, including training, providing advice and intelligence information, as well as securing convoys and transporting supplies, but their progress increased to the point of participating with the security forces in the fighting. This research is of great importance in the international and national criminal responsibility of employees of private military and security companies, to clarify individual criminal responsibility in the light of the provisions of international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Since private security companies are so far governed by clear and binding international rules, it is necessary to make possible efforts to prevent serious violations of the rules of international humanitarian law and human rights rules by employees of those companies at the internal and international levels.

Liability of the Private Military Companies for Violations of International Humanitarian Law

In the wake of the privatization of war, new international players known as private military companies have been given the opportunity to actively engage in many armed conflicts throughout the world. They provide a variety of services such as combat services, logistical support, operational support, intelligence, border monitoring, and providing security guards in exchange for monetary compensation. During armed conflicts workers of these military companies can violate international law, including provisions of international humanitarian law. Under the international humanitarian law, the individual criminal responsibility exists to be applied on the employees of these firms, but the international legal framework is unable to identify the liability of these private military companies. Especially, the idea of criminal corporate liability for these companies is nonexistent. This research paper proposes that the idea of corporate criminal responsibility should be introduced at the state level, with the goal of holding Private Military Companies accountable for breaches of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Laws. In addition, it is also argued that the special regulations are required to govern private military companies.

Russian military operation in Ukraine: analysis from the perspective of International Law

The Russian government emphatically stated that it started a full official attack on Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022. While, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared the imposition of martial law in all regions of his country after Russia carried out a full attack. In addition, several countries in the world responded through open statements of their respective heads of state, and some were accompanied by the imposition of sanctions. Regardless of the reasons and justifications for a decision, the community is the most affected party. This war situation, of course, needs to heed the principles of humanitarian law and humanitarian principles. This paper describes how the war between Russia and Ukraine is seen from the perspective of international law and obligations of the parties under international humanitarian law. This type of research is normative juridical research. The data collecting method used is literature study. The tools used in this research are secondary data in the form of documents consisting of primary legal materials, secondary legal materials, and non-legal materials. These data were analyzed qualitatively and then presented descriptively. The results of this study found that the justifications used by the Russian government in carrying out military operations in Ukraine, namely self-defense, collective self-defense, and humanitarian intervention cannot be justified under international law. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is included in an international armed conflict so that in order to protect civilians and certain subjects and objects, the parties to the conflict must comply with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

On the question of the responsibility of states for the implementation of the provisions of international humanitarian law

On the question of the responsibility of states for the implementation of the provisions of international humanitarian law

LEGAL PROTECTION OF JOURNALISTS DURING INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of the legal status of journalists during international armed conflicts. It is emphasized that representatives of mass media who are on dangerous business trips belong to the category of civilians and enjoy the protection of international humanitarian law under the conditions, if they do not participate in military operations, with the exception of accredited military correspondents, who have a special legal status during coverage acts of military aggression. It is emphasized that the modern concept of "journalist" includes not only employees of traditional mass media, such as television, radio broadcasting, print media, as well as news agencies, but also the so-called new media: journalists of online media, bloggers, freelancers, employees of media communities, public activists and other media participants who communicate publicly with their audience Modern international humanitarian law does not provide for the presence of special means of protection for journalists, although the presence of a certificate or a special badge of a press representative, recommended to journalists by humanitarian organizations, can be considered conditionally as such. Loss of international legal protection by a journalist is possible under the conditions of approaching the place of active hostilities, as well as being inside a military formation, when the enemy has no opportunity to distinguish a combatant from a civilian or a journalist. It is emphasized the importance of further work on the preparation of the Convention on the Protection of Journalists during Armed Conflicts, as well as improving the mechanisms of control over compliance with the current provisions of international humanitarian law through the efforts of the professional journalistic society and international human rights organizations.

الحماية المقررة لـ (اللاجئ والمُهَجَّر) بموجب قواعد القانون الدولي الإنساني Protecting of refugees and displaced persons Under the rules of international humanitarian

حاولنا في البحث دراسة أهم الجوانب المتعلقة بحماية اللاجئين والمهجرين بموجب أحکام القانون الدولي الإنساني من خلال البحث في المواد القانونية التي تضمنتها اتفاقيات جنيف الأربعة لعام 1949 والبروتوکولين الإضافيين الملحقين بهما لعام 1977 التي تشکل حجر أساس للقانون الدولي الإنساني وکذلک قواعد القانون الدولي الإنساني، العرفي والاتفاقيات الدولية والمبادئ التوجيهية المتعلقة بالتشرد الداخلي (الصادرة عن الجمعية العامة للأمم المتحدة) من حيث تحديد المفهوم الخاص باللاجئ والمهجر وتحديد الآليات الخاصة بحمايتهم أثناء النزاعات المسلحة الدولية وغير الدولية. Abstract: The project study tries to study the most important aspects protecting displaced and refugees under the provisions of international humanitarian law by searching in the legal articles which is included in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, which constitute the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, as well as the rules of customary international humanitarian law and international conventions. interims of specifying the concept of refugees and displaced by determining the specific way of protecting during international and non-international armed conflicts.

The Use of Force during Territorial Occupation

It is well established that the provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) regulates armed conflicts and guarantees protection to civilians. Similarly certain protections are also available under laws, such as, International Law of Occupation (ILOC) and International Human rights Law (IHRL). However, we know that often an occupying power uses force against civilians in the course of and maintenance of its occupation? But what grounds they give for the justification of use of force is the matter of critical focus in this article. We analyze the case studies of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) and Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to critically discuss the grounds of use of force under international law.

International protection of journalists during the period of armed conflict

That the human being is the essence of life and the basis for survival of his feeling of peace and security and ensuring his freedoms and respect for his dignity at all times. Therefore, international agreements came to ensure the public and private protection of the person against any aggression that might befall him. Despite the high hopes raised by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, they were not at the required level, as the number of victims is increasing due to the increase in international armed operations, whether or not of an international nature; and that all legal texts of the international agreements remained a dead letter that did not come into practice. . The efforts made by the international community to develop and codify the rules and provisions that regulate armed conflicts, through international agreements, covenants and declarations, are incomplete due to the lack of deterrent penal mechanisms for anyone who violates them. Despite the existence of international agreements that protect some special groups, such as journalists, the provisions of these articles do not provide full protection for this category, just as states do not adhere to international agreements, but rather rely on the balance of power without regard to the rules and provisions of international humanitarian law.

Odpowiedzialność za naruszenie międzynarodowego prawa humanitarnego przez siły pokojowe Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych

Operations under the auspices of the Security Council mandate span over 70 years. Repeatedly involved in resolving armed conflicts, they have made a significant contribution to ensuring security and stability around the world. In practice, they have taken the form of operations by individual states, coalitions, other international organizations or simply as United Nations missions composed of contingents provided by Troop Contribution Countries (TCC). While operations under the auspices of the United Nations have been involved on several occasions in offensive activities under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, and the question of responsibility for these actions has been the subject of many legal analyses and judgments, missions organized by the United Nations are always recognized as neutral, and their activities as conciliatory and focused on monitoring the cessation of hostilities, or supervising the disengagement between the parties of the conflict, with the use of force limited to self-defence. Thus, such operations benefited from legal protection, and any action against them was considered a violation of international law. The current engagement of United Nations goes far beyond the traditional understanding of peacekeeping operations. UN missions are frequently authorized to employ all necessary means, up to and including the use of lethal force or even neutralization of the armed group. This creates a situation where in the light of International Humanitarian Law, such actions can be recognized as involvement in armed conflict. This article is intended to show the problems that the international community will soon face to in using United Nations’ missions as an instrument for resolving armed conflicts and as a tool for restoring peace and providing stability and securityin the area of operations. It presents the processes of decision-making and subordination, which in some circumstances might result in the United Nations missions being deprived of legal protection and, in addition, made liable for non-compliance with the provisions of International Humanitarian Law.