The Supreme Court clarified that a summons does not create obligations and cannot be challenged in court.

The Supreme Court emphasized that conscripted individuals are obligated to report to territorial recruitment centers (TRC) not due to receiving a summons. According to Law No. 2232-XII, a summons cannot be contested in court. The reason is that this document serves merely as a notification to the individual regarding the necessity to fulfill military duty as stipulated by law.

The panel of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court at the Supreme Court reviewed case No. 380/2838/24. The court ruled that a summons, as a document, is only a means of informing about the obligation established by law and therefore cannot be subject to judicial appeal. In its ruling dated October 23, 2024, the court confirmed that this document is not a decision or action of a subject of public authority in the understanding of the Code of Administrative Justice of Ukraine (CAJU), as reported by sud.ua.

Case Circumstances

The plaintiff contested the actions of the TRC regarding the issuance and delivery of the summons, claiming that the document was forged and contained procedural violations: the absence of the TRC chief's signature, the date of summons, and the purpose of arrival. He also insisted that there was no record of his refusal to receive the summons. As a result, the plaintiff faced criminal consequences under Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (evasion from conscription - ed).

However, the Supreme Court concluded that the issuance and delivery of the summons did not violate the plaintiff's rights, as the actions of the TRC were carried out within the framework of the law. The Supreme Court highlighted the following:

• The summons is merely a notification tool, not a document that establishes an obligation.
• The obligation of conscripted individuals to report to the TRC is defined by Law No. 2232-XII.
• It is impossible to appeal the summons in court since it is not a decision of a subject of public authority in the understanding of CAJU.

Thus, the court dismissed the complaint, and the claim was deemed not subject to consideration under administrative judicial procedures.

What You Need to Know About Sending Summons by Mail

Since July, summonses have already been sent by mail. According to the Resolution dated July 9, the Cabinet of Ministers has organized the mechanism for the centralized printing and mailing of summonses to conscripted individuals. Summonses will be generated from the Unified State Register of Conscripts.

The head of the administrative department of the district TRC in Kyiv, Oleg Korotchenko, explained how the lists of conscripted individuals are formed and how it is determined that a particular person will receive a summons by mail. The Ministry of Defense selects recipients using the “Oberih” system. Meanwhile, TRC specialists prepare the document itself.

It is worth noting that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has detailed the process of delivering summonses to conscripted individuals at TRCs and SPs that are sent by mail. The basic point is that a postal representative is obligated to personally deliver the summons to the TRC to the addressee if they are at the address where the summons was delivered.

Additionally, in June in Ukraine, for the first time in three years of the Russo-Ukrainian war, a district court in Kyiv imposed the maximum penalty on an evader from conscription for military service during mobilization in Ukraine. A man from Donetsk received five years in prison. The court did not take into account either the man's remorse or the fact that his relatives lived in the Donetsk region.