The memorial function of law on the example of international humanitarian law

Relevance. The theory of the functions of law at the present stage of the development of domestic jurisprudence occupies one of the leading places in the general theory of law. Despite the sufficient elaboration of the relevant section, the gradual transformations of public relations, the increment of new knowledge in related fields of knowledge require further scientific research. Thus, in accordance with the author's concepts, one of the significant places in the system of social functions of law is occupied by the memorial function. The presented problems deserve special attention in the context of international law, the connection of which with memory is the most distinct. The purpose of the study is to assess the importance of the memorial function of law in the system of other functions on the example of international humanitarian law.

Objectives: to study the genesis and evolution of international humanitarian law; to identify the relationship between memory and the essence of law (using the example of international humanitarian law); to study the manifestations of the memorial function in the content of international humanitarian law.

Methodology. The methodological basis of the research was the principles of scientific, systematic and historicism. The work uses dialectical-materialistic, historical-legal and formal-legal methods, as well as the method of content analysis.

Results. Using the example of international humanitarian law, the article reveals the fundamental foundations of the idea of the memorial function of law. The author analyzes the relationship of memory with the nature, essence and content of international humanitarian law. As examples demonstrating the expression of the memorial function in international humanitarian law, the norms of customary and contractual (Hague and Geneva law) are given.

Conclusions. The paper substantiates the conclusion that the formation of the relevant international legal branch was due to the accumulation in the memory of the international community of evidence of the horrors and losses that the war entails. It is noted that the essence of international humanitarian law is related to the protection of the most significant values for the international community, the need for special attention to which has been formed in social memory on the basis of accumulated experience in warfare.

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