The Central Military Medical Commission Can Cancel the Conclusion of Unfitness Even After Removal from Military Registration — Court Ruling

The Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the court of first instance, which denied the claim of a conscript against the Central Military Medical Commission (CMMC). The plaintiff challenged the CMMC resolution that canceled the Military Medical Commission's (MMC) conclusion declaring him unfit for military service with removal from military registration and ordered a repeated medical examination.

The court concluded that the CMMC acted within its powers as provided by the Regulation on Military Medical Expertise. At the same time, the panel of judges emphasized that administrative courts do not have the right to assess the correctness of medical conclusions of the MMC or CMMC or to determine whether a person's health condition corresponds to a specific article of the Disease Schedule. Judicial review in such disputes is limited to verifying the legality of the decision-making procedure.

The appellate court also confirmed that Regulation No. 402 does not require mandatory summons or personal participation of a citizen during the CMMC review of resolutions of non-staff military medical commissions.

Circumstances of the Case

The plaintiff was registered for military service and in February 2023 underwent a medical examination at the MMC under the district Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. The commission diagnosed him with a vision impairment and, based on Article 30-a of the Disease Schedule, declared him unfit for military service with removal from military registration. The corresponding note was entered into his military ID.

Later, during a pre-trial investigation, an investigator of the National Police Main Directorate in Lviv region requested the CMMC to verify the legality of certain MMC decisions regarding the unfitness of conscripts for service. After analyzing medical documents, on April 14, 2025, the CMMC adopted a resolution canceling the MMC conclusion regarding the plaintiff. However, the commission did not recognize him fit for military service but concluded that a repeated medical examination was necessary.

The basis for this decision was the expert doctor's conclusion of the CMMC that the previously established diagnosis was not properly confirmed by the research results required by the Regulation on Military Medical Expertise. In particular, the materials lacked data on skiascopy or refractometry under cycloplegia conditions, as well as other necessary confirmatory studies.

After the cancellation of the MMC resolution, corresponding changes were made to the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Conscripts, and Reservists "Obereg." The plaintiff was also notified of the need to undergo a control medical examination.

Disagreeing with these actions, the man went to court. He argued that the CMMC violated the procedure for reviewing the MMC resolution and unjustifiably questioned the previously established diagnosis. In his opinion, the additional studies, the absence of which the CMMC referred to, were not mandatory during the initial medical examination.

What the Court Decided

The appellate court agreed with the conclusions of the Lviv District Administrative Court and dismissed the appeal.

The panel of judges noted that Regulation No. 402 explicitly grants the CMMC the right to review, cancel, revoke, and control the resolutions of any military medical commission of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Therefore, the review of the previously adopted MMC decision was within the competence of the CMMC.

At the same time, the court found an interesting circumstance: the plaintiff's surname was not actually included in the list of persons for whom the investigator requested verification of the legality of decisions on unfitness for military service. However, the panel of judges stated that this circumstance does not affect the powers of the CMMC, as it has its own control functions and can independently review MMC resolutions.

Separately, the court referred to the legal positions of the Supreme Court, according to which the issue of the presence or absence of a certain diagnosis, as well as the determination of fitness or unfitness for military service, belongs to the discretionary powers of the MMC and CMMC. The administrative court cannot substitute these bodies and independently assess medical conclusions.

The appellate instance also agreed with the first instance court's conclusion that the plaintiff did not provide evidence of procedural violations in adopting the challenged resolution. The court emphasized that Regulation No. 402 does not contain a requirement for mandatory summons or participation of a citizen during the CMMC review of resolutions of non-staff MMCs.

Moreover, the court noted that in case of disagreement with the conclusion regarding the degree of fitness, a person has the right to apply to the relevant MMC with medical documents that may confirm their position.

As a result, the Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, and the decision of the Lviv District Administrative Court remained unchanged. The ruling in case No. 380/21940/25 came into legal force on the day of its adoption.

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