The article describes certain general theoretical aspects of the rights of a child and the main violations of the rights of the child in the conditions of the military invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.
The purpose of the article is to characterize the main violations of children's rights during the war in Ukraine and to formulate proposals for improving the mechanism for ensuring children's rights.
During the research, general scientific (logical, functional, axiological, comparative, etc.) and special legal methods were used (the method of interpretation of international and legal norms regarding the rights of the child, functional-legal, comparative-legal methods - for the analysis of violations of the rights of the child, statistical method, etc.).
It is claimed that the maximum guarantee of children's rights serves as a criterion for the democracy of the state and determines the level of development of society. It is emphasized that the study of legal aspects of children's rights is especially important in the conditions of the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, which caused significant violations of children's rights.
The concept of child rights is defined as the child's capabilities, which are recognized in international law and national legislation and are conditioned by certain physical and psychological features of its development, are based on the principles of natural law, are guaranteed by the state and other legal subjects, and have a special implementation and protection mechanism.
The main violations of children's rights during the war in Ukraine, in particular the right to life (as of August 19, 2022, 362 children were killed in Ukraine, 716 children were injured, and 223 children were missing), to health care, to education, to freedom of expression, to freedom, physical and psychological safety, to family, education, housing, to a sufficient standard of living, to citizenship, free movement, etc. were analyzed. It is claimed that in the current conditions of the war in Ukraine, the Russian Federation violates practically all the rights of the child.
It has been established that in Ukraine, it is necessary to improve the system of the legal protection of children's rights, which are brutally violated by the military actions of the Russian Federation during the war.
Proposals for improving the mechanism of the legal protection of children's rights in Ukraine were formulated:
1) it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive Law of Ukraine on the rights of the child, which would correspond to the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
2) adopt socially important laws on effective reintegration and restoration of children's rights and on measures aimed at ensuring the rights and interests of children who were left without parental care during the war;
3) allocate a separate section in the Constitution of Ukraine dedicated to the rights of the child.
It was established that ending the war in Ukraine, bringing the guilty parties to justice, bringing the Russian Federation as a subject of international law to responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, the genocide of the Ukrainian people, etc., is an important basis for restoring violated children's rights and preventing new violations of rights.
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