The Parliament of Ukraine supported a bill on increased fines in absentia for draft dodgers

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has supported a bill on increased fines in absentia for draft dodgers.

According to it, failure to appear upon summons or failure to update registration data could result in an in absentia fine of up to 25,500 hryvnias (approximately 603 euros), with the prospect of account blocking for non-payment. Now the bill will be sent to the president for signature.

The document will work in conjunction with the recently adopted controversial law on toughening mobilization.

The new bill determines how much conscripts will pay for violating military registration rules during wartime (“special period”). Fines will be imposed if a person has not updated their data at the military enlistment office (deadline – July 18, 2024), has not informed the territorial enlistment center of changes in data not present in electronic registries, has not appeared upon summons, or has otherwise violated “mobilization” rules. Fines for this will start from 17,000 hryvnias (approximately 402 euros). The upper limit for conscripts is 25,500 hryvnias (approximately 603 euros) (increased for the second reading). For officials and legal entities, fines range from 34,000 to 59,500 hryvnias (804-1406 euros).

Administrative fines are imposed within a year but no later than three months from the date of detection of the offense. A fine will not be issued if the territorial enlistment center can obtain this information about the conscript itself through state registries.

The main innovation of the bill is that fines can be issued in absentia (similar to issuing fines for speeding violations through traffic cameras). That is, without the presence of the offender and the drafting of a protocol. However, for this, the territorial enlistment center must have supporting documents confirming that the person received a summons from the military enlistment office and ignored it.

The specific documents for this are not specified in the bill. “Judicial and Legal Gazette” suggests, by analogy with the mobilization law, that it will be sufficient to mark in the postal message about the impossibility of delivering the summons or the requirement to the registered address.

As suggested by Andriy Osadchuk, a member of the law enforcement committee of the Rada, in absentia fines make it possible to open enforcement proceedings. Thus, accordingly, automatically deduct the fine amounts from the accounts of the violator.