Habrelian H. International legal regulation of the provision and receipt of medical care during armed conflicts

The research is devoted to the study and analysis of the peculiarities of the international legal regulation of the provision of medical care during armed conflicts. Attention has been paid to this problem in terms of the current Ukrainian realities in the east of Ukraine, taking into account the traits of the domestic political and economic situation. The current difficult situation in areas of armed conflict indicates the continuing urgency of improving the legal framework for the provision of medical care at the appropriate level and respect and protection of those who are wounded or sick, of medical personnel, medical units and ambulances during armed conflict, as instability and violence directly affect insurance of the provision and receipt of medical care. The present PhD thesis systematizes and analyzes the provisions on medical care contained in international legal agreements, recommendation documents, decisions of international organizations and judicial institutions, practice of international non-governmental organizations, researches of domestic and foreign scientists, as well as the practice and acts of national legislation of Ukraine concerning this problem. The peculiarities of the main international legal regimes of medical care provision to victims of armed conflicts and medical personnel protection, medical units, institutions and transport have been determined; practice of international organizations and international courts on this issue have has been analyzed; the problematic situation of medical care provision in the east of Ukraine has been discussed. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive analysis of the features of international legal regulation of the provision and receipt of medical care during armed conflicts. The results of the study were the formulation of the following provisions that have elements of scientific novelty and are presented for the defence of the study as a personal contribution of the defendant. In this study for the first time: - the functionality of the interconnection of the triad of international law - human rights, humanitarian and criminal law in the field of legal regulation of the right to health during armed conflicts has been proven, and the interconnection of these areas of international law in the context of provision and receipt of medical care during armed conflict using the concept of "due diligence" has been established; - the principles of medical ethics have been analyzed and the differences in the application of the principles of preliminary informed consent and preservation of medical confidentiality during the provision of assistance in peacetime and wartime have been established; - the need to revise national anti-terrorism legislation in the context of setting an exemption from the prohibition on provision of any assistance to terrorists and extending to them the IHL principles relating to medical care has been proven; - it has been proposed to introduce the concept of absolute immunity with regard to the protection of medical institutions during an armed conflict, with appropriate amendments to certain norms of international law (in particular, Article 13 of Additional Protocol I); - the peculiarities of the practice of international judicial institutions on the international legal regulation of the provision of medical services during armed conflicts, which proclaims the guarantee of adequate medical care during hostilities or occupation as an integral part of the right to life have been discovered; - the problem of protection and provision and medical care in the context of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has been highlighted and it has been found that the Russian Federation is not fulfilling its obligation to respect and protect medical personnel and facilities during armed conflicts, and that Ukraine is not fulfilling its obligation to use internal measures to ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against medical personnel.