MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO SICK WITH MENTAL DISORDERS IN THE CONTEXT INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Background. In the circumstances of armed conflicts issues related to provision of legal protection to the sick as protected persons according to international humanitarian law seem actual both in theoretical and in practical aspects. At the same time, character and severity of the disease necessary to provide protection as well as the amount of required medical care are not completely defined and need clarification. The issue of providing protection to persons with mental disorders takes on special significance, because diagnostics of the latter may cause certain difficulties, and their presence is not always an obstacle to performing of military service duties. The purpose of the article is to search for legal solution for the defined problems, and its objectives are to analyze the relevant norms of international law and of legislation of Russian Federation, and to develop some practical recommendations for their improving. Purpose. The study is aimed at revealing the legal foundations and problematic issues of providing medical care to patients with mental disorders in the context of international humanitarian law applied in armed (military) conflicts. Materials and research methods. The methodological basis of the study is represented by complex of scientific methods applicable for achieving the goal and solving the problems of the study. As such methods were used general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, analogy, abstraction and logical and systematic methods. In addition, comparative legal and formal legal special methods were used. Results and conclusions. The article examines the legal basis for providing protection to sick, including those who have mental disorders, in armed conflicts. International legal norms containing the regulation of appropriate issues are analyzed, and the provisions of normative legal acts of the Russian Federation are considered. Attention is payed to the lack of certainty in regulating issues related to capacity of persons with mental disorders for military service, therefore ways to solve this problem are proposed. The results of the study can be used in scientific researches in military, medical and international humanitarian law and also during the educational process in the training of specialists in the field of law and medicine. EDN: NPGJGG