PREVENTION OF TAKING AND KILLING OF HOSTAGES: INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGULATION

In the 21st century, the threat of international terrorism has replaced the threat of “classic” military confrontations inherent in previous centuries. Despite the fact that terrorist attacks are usually aimed at achieving political goals, however, human lives often become a means of achieving such goals, which creates many challenges not only for world politics and global security but also for internal legal regulation. The issue of the legal definition of the taking and killing of hostages as the methods and types of committing terrorist acts is often fraught with significant difficulties. Using the method of comparative legal analysis, this study analyzes the legal norms of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provide for punishment for the murder of hostages, as well as some problems of interpreting these legal norms in the context of foreign experience. Having studied these circumstances, the authors emphasize the importance of differentiating the dispositive norms of the Criminal Code of Ukraine related to the murder of hostages. The study shows that the Crimi* Oleksandr Sainchyn, Kherson State University, Odesa, Ukraine; sainchynole@ukr.net. ** Oksana Kuchynska, Institute of Law, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine; okskuchynska@ukr.net. *** Volodymyr Hryniuk, Institute of Law, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine; volhryniuk@ukr.net. **** Yuliya Tsyganyuk, Khmelnytsky Institute of Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, Khmelnytsky, Ukraine; tsyganyukyu@yahoo.com. **** Maryna Hromova, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine; marhromova@yahoo.com. Intereulaweast, Vol. VIII (1) 2021 154 nal Code of Ukraine contains identical legal norms providing for legal liability for the same criminal offense: the premeditated murder of a hostage and the taking of a hostage, which led to grave consequences. The study raises the question and encourages discussion as to whether the lack of direct intent in the killing of hostages is possible. Since scientific and theoretical developments in this direction and the practical testing of criminal law norms for the murder of a hostage and the taking of a hostage leave many open questions, criminal lawyers are given the opportunity for scientific and theoretical research.