Realization of the Principles of Criminal Law under the Martial Law Conditions

Abstract

Despite international documents aimed at protecting human rights, national legislation, diplomatic relations and agreements, the Russian Federation has launched active hostilities in Ukraine.A number of legal issues are on the raise because of the situation in Ukraine, among them the problem of the expediency of legislation and international agreements, the value of such documents, the importance of research in this area, the significance and purpose of criminal law, and realization of the principles of criminal law.The aim of the article is to optimize the implementation of the principles of the criminal law during martial law.This chapter consists of three sections. In the first section, we analyze issues of approxi-mation of European norms in the context of realization principles. The problem faced by Ukraine does not concern a single country, but all humanity. Following the aggressive mili-tary actions against Ukraine, there is a threat to the security of other countries of the world if an effective counteraction mechanism is not developed. It has been established that any armed invasion of the territory of another state in the 21st century is not only an encroach-ment on its territorial integrity, but an encroachment on European values. These values have been developedfor centuries in response to the experience of war. After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, European community demonstrated the power of European values, and the ef-fectiveness of the European sanction mechanism.The second sectionfocuses on the questions about the essence of criminal law. It is ex-pressed through its principles. Among them are the principles of humanism, legality, cer-tainty, proportionality, individualization and differentiation of criminal responsibility, presumption of innocence, and inevitability of criminal liability. Fair punishment should comply with the principles of criminal law during martial law as well. In the third section, we analyzed the issues of interpretation of these principles in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The practice of the ECtHR is dy-namic and changing. The interpretation of the principles is dynamic and changing as well.The best way to deal with crimes against humanity, including war crimes, is the integra-tion and unity of the international community in combating these crimes.Last but not least, the number of crimes committed by the Russian Federation isincreas-ing significantly. The more crimes committed, the more anger is stirred up among Ukrain-ians and people all over the world who support Ukraine. However, the civilized world must respond and ensure security by means of civilized methods.