Analytics

For more than three months, Ukrainians have been watching the process of adoption of a comprehensive draft law on mobilization. Finally, on April 11, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 10449 in the second reading. The law will enter into force one month after the day following its publication.

Update: The Law was signed by the President of Ukraine on April 16, 2024 and published in the Holos Ukrainy (Voice of Ukraine) newspaper on April 17, 2024. Thus, the Law will enter into force on May 18, 2024.

We analyzed the first draft law in our newsletter “Military Registration, Mobilization and Military Service in a new way: What to Expect?”. The final text of the law has not yet been published. However, after reviewing the comparative table for the second reading and information from the people’s deputies that the parliament has considered 31 amendments from the relevant committee, we have a general understanding of the changes introduced by the new law.

General changes:

• Ukrainian citizens permanently residing abroad will now undergo military registration. Those deregistered for leaving Ukraine for more than three months must register within 30 days of the entry into force of the respective resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine .
• The shift from “registration of citizens at conscription offices” to “military registration of conscripts” is introduced.
• The concept of “recruit” is introduced and the activities of recruitment centres are regulated.
• The abolition of compulsory military service and the introduction of basic military service for medically fit male Ukrainian citizens (it is voluntary for female citizens) who have reached the age of 18 on the day of their basic military service and for older persons who have not reached the age of 25. The year of basic military service is chosen independently by the citizen until the age of 24.
• Mobilization up to the age of 25 is entirely voluntary. The law provides that persons liable for military service under the age of 25 who have completed basic general military training or basic military service are not subject to military service during mobilization. However, such persons may be called up for military service during the specified period with their consent.

New responsibilities for citizens:

• male citizens of Ukraine aged between 18 and 60, who are either registered in the military registry or have been removed (expelled) from the military registry are obliged to carry their military registration certificate together with an identity document and present it at the request of an authorised representative of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support, a police officer, the State Border Guard Service;

At the same time, an authorized representative of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support or a police officer carries out a photographic and video recording of the process of presentation and verification of documents using technical devices and tools of photographic and video recording, and may also use technical devices, equipment and specialized software with access to the Unified state register of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists.

Border crossings, consular services and passport issuing abroad are carried out in the presence of military registration documents.

• persons liable for military service within 60 days from the date of the start of the mobilization are obliged to clarify their registration data at the Administration Service Centre or electronic cabinet or at the Territorial center of recruitment and social support;
• the Law separately establishes the obligation for citizens on the military register to update their place of residence, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses (if available) and other military registration data within 60 days of the publication of the law. Persons abroad may also update their data by sending a notification to the official e-mail address or official telephone number;
• persons liable for military service and reservists who have left or abandoned their place of residence are obliged to register for military service with the Territorial center of recruitment and social support at the place of registration of the internally displaced person within seven days from the date of registration of the internally displaced person (the ban on changing the place of residence without the permission of the relevant Territorial center of recruitment and social support has been cancelled);
• men aged 25 to 50 diagnosed with disability of the II and III group after February 24, 2022, before the date of entry into force of this Law, are subject to re-evaluation for military service, except for those who were diagnosed with disability of the II and III group as a result of the process of upgrading/downgrading diseases, wounds (traumas, shell shock, mutilations) received during the defense of the Motherland, as well as the absence of a limb, hands (hand wrists), feet (foot), one of the paired organs, or presence of oncological diseases, intellectual or mental disorders, cerebral palsy or other paralysis syndromes, causes of disability from childhood;
• the registration of the electronic cabinet of the conscript, person liable for military service or reservist (the “electronic cabinet”) is not mandatory, but is voluntary.

Subpoenas

• The list of entities authorized to serve summonses is expanded. It is envisaged to involve executive bodies of village, town and city councils, local state administrations, civil-military administrations, military administrations in the notification process. The police are not included in this list.
• Confirmation of the authority of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support. During the delivery of the summons, the representatives of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support are obliged, at the request of the citizen to whom the summons is delivered, to state their surname, first name and patronymic, position, and show their official identification cards.
• New details of summonses are established:

1) last name, first name, patronymic date and date of birth of the citizen to whom the summons is addressed;

2) name of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support issuing the summons (order);

3) purpose of the summons;

4) indication of the place, day and time of appearance upon the summons;

5) signature (electronic digital signature) of the official who issued (formed) the summons or order;

6) registration number of the summons (order);

7) explanation of the consequences of non-appearance and the obligation to report the reasons for non-appearance.

• Valid reasons for non-appearance under summons are established:

– natural disaster, illness of the citizen, military actions of the aggressor country or other circumstances that made it impossible to arrive in person at the specified place and time;

– death of a close relative (parents, spouse, child, siblings, grandparents) or a close relative of the spouse.

In case of non-appearance, the citizen is obliged to notify the reasons for non-appearance as soon as possible, but not later than 3 days from the date and time specified in the summons, with further arrival within a period not exceeding 7 calendar days.

Deferral

• The Law clarifies a number of categories of persons liable for military service who are entitled to deferment, such as (clarifications highlighted in bold):

– students of vocational (vocational-technical), professional pre-vocational and higher education studying full-time or under a dual form of education and obtaining a level of education that is higher than the previously obtained level of education in the sequence specified in part two of Article 10 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, as well as doctoral students and persons enrolled in internships. In case of loss of the right to deferment in connection with studies, the deferment shall remain in effect until the end of the current academic year;

– women and men with three or more dependent children under the age of 18, except for those who have child support arrears exceeding the total amount of payments for three months;

– women and men who have a child (children) under the age of 18, if the other parent of such child (children) died, deprived of parental rights, declared missing, declared dead, serving a sentence in places of imprisonment, or when the person independently raises and supports the child according to a court decision or when the father’s entry in the Birth Registration Book of such a child is made based on part one of Article 135 of the Family Code of Ukraine;

– adoptive parents who support a child (children), who (before the adoption) was (were) an orphan child (children) or a child (children) deprived of parental care under the age of 18, guardians, caregivers, adoptive parents, parents-educators, foster parents with an orphan (children) or a child (children) deprived of parental care under the age of 18;

– person engaged in permanent care after a sick wife (husband), child, and/or his or her father or mother (the father or mother of the spouse if the spouse herself/himself requires permanent care according to the conclusion of a medical and social expert commission or medical and advisory commission of a healthcare institution, died, declared missing or disappeared, declared dead and the father or mother of the spouse has no other capable family members who are obliged and able to care for them) who requires permanent care as according to the conclusion of a medical and social expert commission or medical advisory commission of a healthcare institution;

– person who has a wife (husband) classified as disabled of the I or II group;

– person who has a wife (husband) classified as disabled of the III group due to oncological diseases, absence of a limb (limbs), hands (hand wrists), feet (foot), one of the paired organs, or if the person with a disability of the III group has oncological diseases, psychiatric disorders, cerebral palsy, or other paralysis syndromes;

– persons who have one of their parents or one of their spouse’s parents classified as disabled of the I or II group, provided that there are no other persons who are not liable for military service and obliged to support them in accordance with the law (except for cases when such persons are disabled, require constant care, are under arrest (except for house arrest), serve a sentence of restriction or imprisonment). In the absence of persons not liable for military service, only one of the persons liable for military service may take care of a person with a disability of group I or II, at the choice of such a person with the disability;

– family members of the second degree of kinship of a person classified as disabled of the I or II group, taking permanent care after that person (not more than one person is eligible for deferment and in case of absence of family members of the first degree of kinship or their physical incapacity according to the conclusion of a medical and social expert commission or medical advisory commission of a healthcare institution). In case of absence of family members of the first and second degrees of kinship, this provision extends to family members of the third degree of kinship of a person with a disability of the I or II group.

• The following categories have been granted deferment:

– the Authorized Representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights;

– the Chairman and other members of the Accounting Chamber;

– diplomatic officials holding diplomatic positions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, as well as individuals holding the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary;

– civil officials preparing opinions on draft legal acts, conducting their professional, scientific, legal expertise and/or expertise of adopted legal acts, civil officials directly performing functions of cybersecurity, cyber defense and information technology security, software development, database administration, implementation and support of the latest information and communication technologies in the bodies supporting the activities of the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

• The law provides that deferment from military service during mobilization may be processed through the Unified state register of conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists based on data obtained from other state registers or databases confirming that the conscript is eligible for deferment.

Enforcement actions

• The initial draft of the law envisaged a series of enforcement actions, but only one remained in the final text – temporary restriction of the citizen’s right to drive a vehicle during mobilization.
• The application of such a measure should be preceded by:

1. The application of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support to the police regarding the implementation of administrative detention and delivery of such a citizen to the Territorial center of recruitment and social support.
2. In case of receiving a written response from the police about the impossibility of carrying out administrative detention, the head of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support within 5 days from the date of receiving the response from the police sends a demand to the citizen to fulfill the duty (duties) of the conscript in paper form by recorded delivery post to the address of his location, place of residence, or stay.
3. If the citizen does not voluntarily comply with the obligation(s) specified in the demand within 10 calendar days from the date of delivery, the Territorial center of recruitment and social support shall apply to the court.
4. The claim is submitted to the court of first instance within 30 days from the date on which the grounds for the claim arose. The court considers the claim in written proceedings within 30 days from the day of the opening of the proceedings in the case, and a court hearing may be held at the initiative of the court or at the request of the party.

• The law describes in a more detail the procedure for considering the claim, in particular, which circumstances must be proved by the Territorial center of recruitment and social support and in which cases the use of an enforcement action is impossible.
• Execution of the decision will be carried out by a state executor. The enforcement proceedings may be terminated in case of: 1) withdrawal of the demand of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support due to the fulfillment of the obligation or 2) termination or completion of the mobilization period.

Servicemen

• The Law provides for new grounds for dismissal of servicemen during martial law, in particular, in connection with their release from captivity (if the servicemen did not express a desire to continue military service). However, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not support the amendment on dismissal in case of continuous service during martial law for 36 months. It is reported that this issue will be addressed by a separate law.
• The servicemen, after their release from captivity, shall be granted, at their request, additional paid leave for a duration of 90 calendar days without division into units (except for servicemen who expressed their desire to resign from military service after their release from captivity). A serviceman may be recalled from additional leave after his release from captivity only with his consent.
• Persons liable for military service who served and were discharged from service in the reserve due to release from captivity are not subject to call-up for military service during mobilization.

Also, we would like to remind that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has already adopted laws related to the issue of mobilization.

• the age limit for citizens to be registered for military service has been lowered from 27 to 25 (the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On Military Duty and Military Service’” was adopted on May 30, 2023, but signed by the President only on April 02, 2024);
• status of “limitedly fit” has been abolished (the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Ensuring the Rights of Servicemen and Policemen to Social Protection” which was adopted on March 21, 2024, and will enter into force on May 4, 2024). Ukrainian citizens who were recognized as limitedly fit for military service before the entry into force of this Law shall undergo a second medical examination within 9 months from the date of entry into force of this Law in order to determine their fitness for military service.
• the issue of the electronic cabinet for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists has been regulated (the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure for Processing and Using Data in State Registers for Military Registration and Acquiring the Status of a War Veteran during Martial Law” which was adopted on January 16, 2024, and entered into force on April 4, 2024). For more information on the changes, please see our newsletter “Introduction of an Electronic office for Conscripts persons liable for military service, and Reservists”.
• increasing liability for violations of the rules of military registration and legislation on defense, military duty and military service, mobilization training and mobilization. On April 10, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the first reading approved the draft law 10379 “On Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the Strengthening of Responsibility for Military Offences”. Currently, parliamentary amendments and proposals for the second reading of the respective law are being accepted. Afterward, they will be reviewed by the relevant committee and prepared for the second reading.
• the possibility of mobilization of convicted persons released from serving a sentence of probation, except for those convicted of military crimes and crimes against the foundations of national security of Ukraine. On April 10, 2024, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis draft law 11079-1 “On Amendments to the Criminal, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Executive Codes of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on the Introduction of the Institute of Early Release of Persons from Serving Sentences for Direct Participation in the Defense of the Country, Protection of its Independence and Territorial Integrity”. As in the previous case, this draft law is awaiting a second reading and therefore the final provisions may differ.

The above commentary presents the general statement for information purposes only and as such may not be practically used in specific cases without professional advice.

Kind regards,

© WTS Consulting LLC, 2024

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