The dissertation is a comprehensive study of ensuring the child's right to security in martial law. In section 1 "Theoretical principles of implementing the child's right to security", the author's definition of the "child's right to security" as the child's right to be protected from physical, psychological, moral, social, property threats and dangers, taking into account its vulnerable position, is proposed for the first time. The provisions on the periodization of the formation and development of the child's right to security have been improved and three stages have been identified: a) from the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of the League of Nations to the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924-1959), which laid the foundations of the international understanding of children's rights, the principles of security were general in nature and focused on protection from exploitation without detailed regulation of aspects of physical and psychological security; children were perceived as objects, not subjects of rights; b) from the adoption of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1959-1989), which recognized that the safety of children should encompass not only physical, but also psycho-emotional health; children were recognized as a separate vulnerable category of persons in need of special protection, but mechanisms for the enforcement of relevant international norms were absent; c) from the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child until now (1989 - present), which defines specific obligations for states to ensure the comprehensive safety of children, in particular through the prevention of violence, protection from economic exploitation, sexual abuse and other forms of physical or psychological violence. Section 2 "Ensuring the right of the child to safety in the family, educational environment and within juvenile justice in conditions of martial law" highlights the features of ensuring the right of the child to safety in
conditions of martial law in the family environment through the prism of combating domestic violence against the child and parental kidnapping; in the educational environment through the allocation of measures to combat bullying and cyberbullying; in the implementation of pilot projects of restorative justice and the Barnahus model. The concept of parental kidnapping is clarified as an arbitrary change of a child's place of residence by one of the parents, or a person replacing him, without the consent of the other, and it is additionally substantiated that in conditions of martial law, for reasons of ensuring the safety of the child, such actions can be considered as a legitimate measure of an exceptional nature. The need to recognize children who have witnessed domestic violence as its victims due to the significant psychological, emotional and social impact, which is equal to the impact of direct violence, is substantiated. In section 3 “Ensuring the child’s right to safety during armed conflict”, the features of protecting children as victims of war from physical impact (murder, mutilation, abduction, sexual violence, etc.) during an armed conflict, from recruitment to the armed forces and use in hostilities are identified and characterized; relevant proposals are developed to improve the legislation of Ukraine on combating the commission of war crimes against children, in particular, it is proposed to provide for criminal liability for violations of the laws and customs of war separately in relation to children.
