CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL-LEGAL PROTECTION OF MINORS AGAINST LABOR EXPLOITATION

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of criminological and criminal legal protection of minors against labor exploitation. Particular attention is paid to determining the essence of the considered criminal offense, as well as its place in the context of socially dangerous acts against the will, honor and dignity of a person. It has been established that the current criminal legislation of Ukraine establishes criminal responsibility for the exploitation of children, which provides for the exploitation of a child who has not reached the age at which employment is permitted by law, by using her labor. Unfortunately, within the framework of criminological protection of the labor rights of citizens, this issue is very rare, which is due to the placement of the norm in the section dedicated to criminal offenses against the will, honor and dignity of a person. It is indicated that the legislator does not consider forced labor, which is not stipulated by an agreement on the labor of an adult, to be economic exploitation. It is noted that international documents emphasize the fact that the main social danger of child exploitation is the potential danger of becoming an obstacle on the way to her education, development, etc. In 2009, the Criminal Code of Ukraine added Art. 150-1, which provides criminal liability for using a minor child for begging, bypassing part 2 of Art. 304 of the legislation, which also prohibits similar actions. It is concluded that in order to bring the national criminal legislation into compliance with the requirements of international legal acts, the legislator needs to change the approach to the assessment of the objective side and the social danger of the economic exploitation of the child. An urgent task today is the revision of the criminal legislation regarding the exploitation of minors. The legislator should pay special attention to the determination of the objective side of the specified criminal offense, as well as the degree of its social danger.