At least 7.3 thousand criminal cases have been suspended due to the defendant’s conscription into the army since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, according to the court registry search engine Babusya. Thus, this year, more than 1,900 cases have been suspended due to the mobilization of the accused. This is almost as many as for the whole of 2023. The largest number of such cases this year is in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro regions.
At least 7,312 criminal proceedings have been suspended due to the mobilization of the accused into the Armed Forces since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This legal mechanism appeared in 2022, when the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine was amended, and since then it has been actively used by the courts.
The number of such suspensions is growing from year to year. For example, 858 cases were suspended in the first year of the full-scale program, and the number of such cases has only increased every year. The record year was 2024, when 2,406 cases were stopped where the accused joined the Armed Forces. This year, there are already 1973 suspended cases.
Most of the decisions to suspend cases due to mobilization were made in Kyiv region – 617. The second place is occupied by Lviv region (582), and the third place is occupied by Dnipropetrovs’k region (559).
It should be understood that the suspension of proceedings is not the same as automatic exemption from liability. However, in fact, the case is postponed indefinitely. This creates an opportunity for abuse – especially in high-profile corruption cases or when it comes to rear-guard positions where participation in hostilities is not required.
That is why the Verkhovna Rada has registered draft law No. 13284, which proposes to amend the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the specifics of prosecuting persons called up for military service. In particular, it provides for the possibility of continuing pre-trial investigation and trial of cases on certain categories of crimes, even despite the mobilization of the accused.
The new draft law should also reduce opportunities for abuse of mobilization: the suspension of proceedings should be clearly limited to cases of direct participation of the accused in defense measures, confirmed by a combat order (instruction) issued by the commander of a military unit or subdivision.
“Currently, there is obviously a lack of a mechanism to appeal the suspension of proceedings and resume the proceedings in cases where the court or a party abuses its right. Of course, mobilization should not become a circumstance that offsets the fundamental principles of criminal procedure, in particular, the implementation of the principle of access to justice, competition and inevitability of punishment. However, we should also think about a person who, risking his life, wants to at least whitewash his reputation, but is unable to defend himself in court while at war,” comments Tetiana Popovska, senior associate at Asters.
https://opendatabot.ua/analytics/mobilization-and-court
