On Legal Protection of Family, the Rights and Interests of Minors in the Current Penal Code of Ukraine

The article looks into current state of legal protection of family, the rights and interests of minors within provisions of the PenalCode Special Part. It is noted that after the Penal Code 2001 Special Part took effect the legislator placed criminal offences against fa -mily, the rights and interests of minors in different Penal Code sections with different generic objects, same as the Penal Code 1960.Such an approach is defined as inappropriate as it doesn’t ensure required level of legal protection of family and minors, as social relationshipsin terms of family relations are defacto at stake including relationships that ensure the rights and interests of minors. The artic -le draws attention to the fact that the Ukrainian legislator recently has only improved some legal provisions that criminalise infringementof family and minors, the legislator however has never systematised criminal offences against family and minors within the PenalCode Special Part based on uniformity (similarity) of social relationships. The article quotes substantiated proposals repeatedly madeby scientists in criminal law in which they say that criminal offences against family and minors have still not been systematised in theprovisions of the Penal Code Special Part. The article gives arguments that family relations create an independent social life area inwhich legal relations are established (relations within family and raising minors) and represent an independent kind of relations withown structure and specificities. The article provides evidence that family, minors (children), family relations represent a single bloc ofsocial relationships, the social relationships being united, interconnected and mutually reinforcing each other. In terms of axiologicalapproach family relations as social value have particular importance for the state, society and person providing that the relations arebased on love, care, understanding, loyalty, respect, support, sincerity, trust, harmony, responsibility, etc. The author defends necessityof integral legal protection of family, the rights and interests of minors in an independent section of the Penal Code Special Part whichwould criminalise socially dangerous infringements that harm above relationships.