CURRENT DIRECTIONS FOR IMPROVING CRIMINAL LIABILITY AND PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMINAL OFFENSES AGAINST SEXUAL FREEDOM AND SEXUAL INVIOLATION COMMITTED IN CONDITIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT

Abstract

The article examines the problems of applying criminal law norms that establish criminal liability for criminal offenses against sexual freedom and inviolability, in particular those committed against minors and minors. It is noted that after amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the legislator refused to indicate violence as a method of committing rape.Instead of physical violence, the threat of its use or the use of a person’s helplessness, which were forms of implementing the objective side of the criminal offense provided for in Part 1 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the version until 06.12.2017, the lack of voluntary consent of the victim was provided for as a mandatory sign of rape. It is stated that the lack of voluntary consent involves the use of various forms of violence and the use of her helplessness. The commission of such actions against a minor a priori involves the use of a helpless state due to the minor’s age. It is argued that in most sentences initiated on the fact of committing sexual criminal offenses against minors, when considering cases of committing an act provided for in Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the courts necessarily indicate the fact of the victim’s voluntary consent and the absence of violence on the part of the criminal offender. However, based on the content of Part 4 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, it is concluded that the presence of voluntary consent does not exclude the possibility of its application in absolutely all cases when acts of a sexual nature related to penetration are committed against a minor. Such a situation may result in inconsistent and unequal application of the provisions of criminal legislation to persons who have entered into sexual contact with minors with penetration by mutual consent. Based on the analysis and generalization of statistical reporting by law enforcement agencies and judicial practice, a set of amendments and additions to Section IV of the Criminal Legislation of Ukraine is proposed, most of which are aimed at eliminating contradictions that arose after the 2017 amendments, which were introduced to implement the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.