Court rules student’s mobilization unlawful: TCC failed to consider deferment application

The Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court has ruled unlawful the conscription of a student from Kryvyi Rih National University who had submitted a deferment application but, instead of having it reviewed, was sent before a military medical commission and enlisted in the army. The court ordered the military unit to discharge the man and remove him from its personnel rolls.

The ruling was published by sud.ua.

In August 2024, the man enrolled as a first-year full-time master’s student in the specialty of Mining. His documents confirmed the continuity of his education, which entitled him to a deferment from conscription.

On September 5, 2024, the student sent a deferment application by mail to the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TCC), attaching the original certificate of enrollment. The TCC received the documents on September 10, as confirmed by a delivery notification. Despite this, on October 1 the man was sent before a military medical commission, which found him fit for service. On October 10, the TCC issued a conscription order, and the following day the military unit added him to its personnel rolls. From October 2024, the man was on active military service while simultaneously pursuing legal proceedings against the TCC.

During the proceedings, the TCC denied having received the deferment application and claimed that the plaintiff was not properly registered for military service. TCC representatives also cited a university order canceling the man’s enrollment. The court rejected these arguments. The man’s electronic military registration document indicated that he was registered as a reservist. The enrollment cancellation order cited by the TCC had been revoked by the university rector, and the university itself confirmed that the man had remained a student.

The court identified as the key circumstance in the case the fact that, at the time of conscription, the deferment application was already in the TCC’s possession but had not been reviewed. The court noted that the law requires that a reservist not be subject to conscription until a decision has been made to grant or deny a deferment. The court also drew attention to the prohibition on sending a reservist for a medical examination to determine fitness for service before a deferment decision is made, if he has submitted a corresponding application.

“However, in this case the TCC did not review the man’s deferment documents and instead sent him before the military medical commission, after which he was mobilized,” the case materials state.

The court found that the established conscription procedure during mobilization had been violated. The TCC’s order of October 10, 2024 conscripting the man was declared unlawful and annulled, as was the military unit’s order adding him to its personnel rolls. Since his service was a consequence of the unlawful conscription order, the court ordered the military unit to discharge the man and remove him from its personnel rolls.

UNIAN previously reported that a court had ruled unlawful the mobilization of an employee of JSC Ukrsibbank: at the time of conscription, he already had a deferment and an exemption from conscription, but the territorial recruitment center had failed to properly verify his rights. The orders in that case were also annulled, and the military unit was ordered to remove the man from its personnel rolls and discharge him from service. In addition, a court ruled unlawful a TCC decision to cancel a postgraduate student’s deferment, finding that the man had continued his studies and was fulfilling his individual academic plan, and that the TCC had no authority to review his academic performance or class attendance.