A person’s religious or other beliefs are not grounds for exempting them from criminal liability for evading mobilization, according to the Supreme Court.
“Ukrainian legislation does not provide for exemption from the obligation to perform military service upon mobilization based on religious or other beliefs,” the Supreme Court said in a statement on its website on Monday.
The statement notes: “Such beliefs cannot be grounds for exempting a person from criminal liability in the event of evading mobilization within the meaning of Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.”
This conclusion was reached by the Joint Chamber of the Cassation Criminal Court within the Supreme Court following the consideration of case No. 573/838/24.
The Court informs that, based on the circumstances of the criminal proceedings, the courts of previous instances found the defendant guilty and convicted him under Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the fact that, being fit for military service due to his state of health, he failed to appear at the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TCSPS) for referral to a military unit for the purpose of performing military service.
“In the cassation appeal, the defense attorney noted that the defendant had grounds for conscientious objection to military service, since such refusal was based on his sincere religious beliefs, incompatible with the performance of any military service, including non-armed service, as well as on his membership in the religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose doctrine categorically excludes the possibility of such service,” the statement said.
According to the Supreme Court, in assessing the cassation claims, the Joint Chamber noted that conscription may entail the performance of non-combat military duties that do not require the carrying and use of weapons (repair of equipment, evacuation of the wounded, construction of fortifications, etc.).
“The Joint Chamber recognized that the impossibility of refusing military service on the basis of conscience, as established by law, means that such a restriction must be applied in proportion to the objective pursued, even when defending the Fatherland from aggression,” the Court explained.
Thus, as noted in the statement, “conscription into military service does not automatically cancel the right to conscientious objection to carrying or using weapons.”
evasion, mobilization, Religious beliefs, responsibility, Ukrainian citizen
