Keywords
constitutional case law
protection of human rights
European Court of Human Rights
anthropocentrism
public authority
fair trial
martial law
armed conflict
How to Cite
Abstract
Human rights in armed conflict are one of the most debatable and at the same time critically important topics of our time. War poses unique challenges to the functioning of the justice system, challenging the ability to ensure fair trials and effective protection of individual rights. The purpose of the article is to study the standards of judicial protection of human rights under martial law in Ukraine, as well as to analyze the application of the principle of human centrism as the basis of law enforcement practice and state policy in crisis situations. Martial law, national security challenges, and the destruction of the institutional capacity of government bodies create risks for the realization of key rights and freedoms, in particular, the right to a fair trial. The article emphasizes that even under conditions of restrictions on certain rights during martial law, the state is not exempt from the obligation to adhere to basic standards of fair trial. The relevant provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, in particular Articles 8, 55, 64, 124 and 129, which form the basis of the constitutional guarantee of the right to due process, are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 2-rp/2016, which establishes the criteria for the admissibility of restrictions on human rights, and the practice of the ECHR, in particular in the cases of Steel and Others v. the United Kingdom of September 23, 1998 and Al-Skeini and Others v. the United Kingdom of July 7, 2011. Problems and prospects for the functioning of the judicial system in wartime conditions were identified, in particular, restrictions on access to the court in frontline territories, the introduction of remote technologies, personnel challenges, and security threats. It is argued that even in times of war, constitutional guarantees of individual rights should not be undermined, the state is not exempt from the obligation to ensure fundamental rights, in particular through access to justice, guarantees of a fair trial, and protection from arbitrariness, which is the basis of the legitimacy of state power.
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