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Law Journal of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

  • Received 24.05.2025,
  • Revised 26.08.2025,
  • Accepted 29.09.2025
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Volume 15, No. 3, 2025
  • war crimes; subject matter and limits of proof; contextual circumstances; armed conflict; international humanitarian law; international criminal law; forensic characterisation; forensic classification
  • https://doi.org/10.63341/naia-chasopis/3.2025.70
  • Pages 70-81

The research relevance is determined by the need to improve the methodology of proof in criminal proceedings on the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war. The study addressed the disposition of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to which the norms of international humanitarian and criminal law should be applied. The study aimed to determine the structure of the subject matter of proof in war crimes cases, to identify its features in view of the principle of complementarity, and to develop a forensic classification and characterisation of the relevant acts. The methodological toolkit included systemic and structural, comparative legal, and formal legal methods, content analysis of case law, and inductive analysis, which formulated theoretical generalisations based on the study of specific criminal proceedings. The practical basis of the study was determined by the analysis of decisions of national courts of first instance and appellate courts in cases involving war crimes on the territory of Ukraine. The study established that the process of proof has a dual nature. It covers, on the one hand, the circumstances stipulated by criminal procedural law, and, on the other hand, the facts that are key to qualifying acts as international crimes committed within the framework of an armed conflict and having a direct connection with it. In this context, the investigation of war crimes is characterised by an increased level of complexity, which can be conditionally differentiated into two groups. The first group includes circumstances of an objective nature that cannot be influenced by the pre-trial investigation authorities. The second group is formed by negative factors that can be influenced within criminal proceedings to minimise their consequences. In this aspect, typical elements to be established during the investigation of violations of the laws or customs of war were identified. The study substantiated the expediency of supplementing Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with qualifying circumstances which specify its content. The scientific and practical significance of the results obtained includes the development of a unified approach to the analysis, verification and evaluation of evidence in war crimes cases, as well as to develop a forensic classification and forensic characteristics of such offences to form a unified methodology for investigating violations of the laws and customs of war

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