Impact of the war in Ukraine on the search for persons missing under special circumstances

Abstract

Given the challenges of the ongoing war, the relevance of this study is conditioned by to the need to improve the practice of searching for Ukrainian citizens who went missing under special circumstances, specifically on the territory of other European states. The purpose of this study was to examine the legislative regulation of the status of missing persons and to analyse the legal regulation of relations related to the identification and search for, as well as social and legal protection of such persons. The methodological framework of the study was formed by both general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition: systemic and structural, informational, terminological, and formal logical method. Using these methods, the study highlighted the content of international and national regulatory legislation, which determines that the legal grounds for conducting a search for missing persons are the legal norms constituting the basis of international, legislative, and departmental regulations and are cumulative. The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross is analysed, and the statistics of identification of persons missing under special circumstances by this organisation was considered. Attention was focused on the activities of the International Commission on Missing Persons, which operated in various countries where the situation of missing persons during armed conflict and military operations arose. It was proved that the effectiveness of the mechanism for searching for missing persons depends on the interpretation of certain provisions of regulatory legislation, as well as on the staffing of bodies and units directly involved in the search for persons of this category. The study focused on the activities of the Commission on Missing Persons under Special Circumstances, which is a permanent advisory body of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as well as the significance of the International Commission on Missing Persons. It was concluded that the real situation in countries with ongoing armed conflicts necessitates the introduction and use of advanced digital technologies in the work on searching for missing persons. The study can serve as a basis for improving the legal framework for international cooperation in identifying missing civilians and military personnel in the territories where armed conflicts have occurred or are ongoing