SELECTED ISSUES OF THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON LEGAL BEHAVIOR IN A STATE OF WAR

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of topical issues of interaction and mutual influence of legal norms and religious norms on the behavior of subjects of legal relations. The value of religious norms, which are a key element in the regulation of social relations over a long historical period, is emphasized.It has been established that an extremely topical and controversial issue is the establishment of key nuances in distinguishing between a person’s refusal to perform military service on the grounds of religious beliefs and a person’s abuse of their rights and the opportunity to evade their constitutional duty to defend our country from armed aggression. It is the court that must establish and assess the seriousness of a person’s religious beliefs in order to prevent their attempts to abuse and evade military service and the defense of their homeland.The position of the European Court of Human Rights has been examined, which in its decisions has repeatedly emphasized that, by virtue of the right guaranteed by Article 9(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the state must ensure that citizens can perform alternative (non-military) service, which must be completely separate from military duty, and recognized the right of citizens with religious beliefs to refuse military service on the basis of their religious beliefs. In turn, the legal positions set out in court decisions, both in administrative and criminal proceedings, determine that courts interpret the right of citizens to profess their religion or beliefs in terms of the possibility of refusing military service in different ways.It was concluded that there is an urgent need to amend the current legislation in order to enshrine the right of citizens to alternative service during martial law. In terms of legislative regulation of the possibility of replacing military service with alternative (non-military) service for citizens based on their religious beliefs, it is necessary to find a balance between guaranteeing and ensuring a person’s right to refuse military service due to their religious beliefs, and minimizing cases of abuse of the rights granted to them and evasion of the duty to defend the country from armed aggression.