COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW: CERTAIN ASPECTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the application of Art. 111-1 of the
Criminal Code of Ukraine in the context of international humanitarian law. It has
been found that the approaches to the qualification of actions according to parts 2
and 5 of Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in terms of the voluntary
employment by citizens of Ukraine of positions, both related and unrelated to the
performance of organizational-administrative or administrative-economic
functions, in illegal authorities created in the temporarily occupied territory. The
specified criminal law prohibition corresponds to a number of rights of citizens
who found themselves in the occupied territory, the provision of which may
formally acquire the characteristics of the components of the specified criminal
offenses, however, in view of the requirements of international humanitarian law,it should not be considered socially dangerous, illegal. This concerns the activities
of medical personnel (organization of the provision and direct provision of
medical services), personnel of communal enterprises (ensuring the sanitary
well-being of the population, as well as water supply, heat supply, and the supply
of energy carriers necessary to ensure life in the occupied territories), as well as
providers of professional legal assistance.
It has been proven that the criminal law prohibition, constructed in Part 7
of Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as well as the practice of applying
this criminal law norm does not violate the requirements of international
humanitarian law. It is not participation in an armed conflict that should be
considered criminally prohibited (it remains lawful for combatants on the basis of
the specified provisions of international humanitarian law), but the voluntary
acquisition by a citizen of Ukraine of participation in armed formations on the
side of the aggressor country.
It was established that citizens of Ukraine, civilians, can mostly be
recognized as subjects of violations of the laws and customs of war (Article 438 of
the Criminal Code of Ukraine) only when they have committed a predicate
collaborative activity, due to the actual consequences of which they have acquired
the status of subjects object of ensuring the occupation and used it to further
commit a war crime.