MMC decisions are not always mandatory: what military personnel need to know before undergoing functional assessment

Servicemen undergoing an assessment of daily functioning (ADF) often face situations where medical institutions refuse to issue an electronic referral due to the absence of a decision from the military-medical commission (MMC), although current legislation does not establish this requirement as mandatory for undergoing the assessment.

As a result, the process is delayed for months, and people remain unable to timely formalize disability and receive the appropriate state guarantees. At the same time, current legislation provides a different procedure, and not every absence of a MMC decision means that a person cannot be referred for assessment.

Is it mandatory for a serviceman to provide documents to confirm the cause of disability, or does the absence of a MMC decision with the indicated causal link prevent referral for ADF – more details in the material by the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper".

Is it mandatory to have a MMC decision?

Analysis of current legislation shows that referral for assessment does not depend on whether a person already has an established causal link between injury or illness and military service. However, the presence of such a document determines what cause of disability the expert team will establish and what social guarantees the serviceman will receive.

The procedure for conducting the assessment is defined by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated November 15, 2024, No. 1338 "Some issues of implementing the assessment of daily functioning of a person". The document contains a list of materials that may be attached to the electronic referral for the assessment. This document is currently the subject of most disputes.

In particular, the following may be attached to the electronic referral:

• medical documents confirming the person’s health status
• results of laboratory and instrumental studies
• extracts from medical documentation and treatment history
• consultative conclusions of specialist doctors
• documents confirming treatment, surgical interventions, or rehabilitation
• decision (resolution) of the military-medical commission – if already obtained and containing an established causal link between the disease, injury, or wound and military service
• other documents that may be relevant for the assessment and confirm the health status or circumstances of its deterioration.

In Resolution No. 1338, the decision of the military-medical commission is defined as a document that confirms the causal link between injury, trauma, or disease and military service. At the same time, the regulatory act does not establish that referral for assessment is impossible without it. Thus, the absence of a MMC decision alone does not deprive a serviceman of the right to undergo an assessment of daily functioning.

In practice, this means that a doctor can issue an electronic referral even when the MMC decision has not yet been obtained.

What documents are considered a MMC decision?

The procedure for the work of military-medical commissions is regulated by the Regulation on Military-Medical Expertise in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approved by the order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine dated August 14, 2008, No. 402. This document defines that the decision of the military-medical commission may be issued in various forms: a certificate of illness, a military-medical commission certificate, or the minutes of a meeting of the regular military-medical commission.

Regardless of the form of the document, it must contain a conclusion on the causal link between the health damage and military service. For example, the decision may state that the injury or disease is related to: defense of the Fatherland, performance of military service duties, or military service itself. These formulations are crucial later when establishing the cause of disability.

What happens if there is no MMC decision yet?

If a serviceman applies for assessment without a MMC decision, the expert team still conducts a health assessment and determines whether there are grounds for establishing disability. However, without a document confirming the causal link with military service, experts cannot independently establish such a cause. As a result, disability may be established with the cause "general disease," even if the disease or injury actually occurred during the performance of military duties.

Therefore, the absence of a MMC decision does not affect the possibility of undergoing assessment but directly affects the legal status of the established disability.

Why the cause of disability matters

The cause of disability determines not only the wording in the expert team’s conclusion. It affects further state guarantees, social protection, and certain benefits provided by law for servicemen.

In particular, in some cases, the established causal link allows applying the provisions of Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine "On Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities in Ukraine," which provides special features for establishing disability, including the possibility of indefinite determination and other guarantees defined by law. If the causal link is not documented, such mechanisms cannot be applied.

If after establishing disability the serviceman receives a MMC decision confirming the link between the disease or injury and military service, the law allows undergoing assessment again. To do this, one must contact the attending physician and provide new documents, including the military-medical commission decision. After that, the doctor issues a new electronic referral, and the expert team conducts a repeated assessment considering the new documents.

In this case, the cause of disability may be changed, which will affect the further scope of rights and guarantees of the serviceman.

Judicial practice

The issue of correctly determining the cause of disability has already become the subject of court disputes. In the decision of the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal dated July 22, 2026, in case No. 460/11974/24, the court considered a situation where a former serviceman was denied the status of a person with a war-related disability.

The plaintiff was denied war disability status because the MSEC certificate indicated "related to the performance of military service duties," not "related to the defense of the Fatherland."

The Eighth ACA noted that these concepts are not identical. Military service (the entire period) is broader than the performance of duties (direct tasks). For war disability status, a link with direct participation in combat is required.

What servicemen should pay attention to

It is advisable not to delay obtaining the MMC decision even when the assessment is already scheduled. Practice shows that the greatest difficulties for servicemen arise not from the assessment procedure itself but from different interpretations of the legislation by medical institutions. In fact, current norms allow undergoing assessment even without a military-medical commission decision.

Another matter is that without a document confirming the causal link between the disease or injury and military service, disability may be established as resulting from a general disease. If the MMC decision is obtained later, the law allows repeated assessment and changing the cause of disability.

Therefore, it is important for servicemen to know their rights and understand which documents affect not the fact of the assessment itself but the subsequent scope of social guarantees.

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