Theoretical and legal analysis of certain aspects of forensic characterisation of violations of the laws and customs of war

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to improve theoretical and practical approaches to the investigation of war crimes, ensuring their effective detection and documentation in the process of proof. The purpose of the study was a comprehensive investigation of the structural elements of the criminalistic characteristics of war crimes provided for in both Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, considering the practice of national and international courts, and the development of proposals for optimal ways of Investigation. The methodological basis of the research was formal legal, comparative legal, dogmatic, systematic methods, empirical study of investigative and judicial practice. The practical basis of the study was the materials of criminal proceedings on the fact of committing war crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine, and the case law of international (special) tribunals. As a result of the research, the content and structure of the criminalistic characteristics of war crimes were clarified, its significance for establishing the circumstances to be proved was determined, and key problems that affect the process of proof in an armed conflict were identified. Attention was paid to the contextual signs of violations of the laws and customs of war, which were integrated into the criminalistic characteristics of war crimes, as system-forming elements that determine the specifics of investigations, considering the method of commission, the mechanism of the event, the identity of the criminal and the victim, socially dangerous consequences, and their relationship with what was committed. For the first time, forensic signs of war crimes were systematised, considering international legal qualifications and specific conditions of investigation. The practical significance of the results obtained lies in the possibility of their use in the practical activities of the pre-trial investigation bodies, the prosecutorʼs office and the court to increase the effectiveness in the investigation process and prove the guilt of persons involved in violations of the laws and customs of war