Combatants are exempt from court fees regardless of the plaintiff's or defendant's status — Supreme Court

The exemption from court fees provided for combatants applies to such persons regardless of whether they are plaintiffs or defendants in the case. Imposing the obligation to pay court fees on a combatant solely on the basis of their procedural status as a defendant is an incorrect application of paragraph 13 of part 1 of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees."

These conclusions were reached by the Supreme Court in the composition of the United Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court.

Circumstances of case No. 752/3051/25

A company that manages and services a multi-apartment building filed a lawsuit against a consumer of housing and communal services to recover debt for services provided, inflation losses, and three percent annual interest.

The court of first instance satisfied the claim.

The defendant, who has the status of a combatant, filed an appeal against the decision of the court of first instance. In the appeal, he requested exemption from paying the court fee, referring to the benefits guaranteed to him by law.

The appellate court denied the defendant's motion for exemption from paying the court fee and returned the appeal after the applicant failed to correct the deficiencies in the appeal regarding the payment of the court fee. The court reasoned that the case concerning the recovery of debt for housing and communal services does not relate to the protection of the rights of a combatant, and the applicant himself is the defendant, not the plaintiff, and did not independently seek protection of his rights in court.

The United Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court annulled the appellate court's ruling and sent the case for a new hearing to the appellate court, making the following legal conclusions.

Conclusions of the Supreme Court

According to paragraph 13 of part 1 of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees," combatants, victims of the Revolution of Dignity, and Heroes of Ukraine are exempt from paying court fees during the consideration of cases in all courts in cases related to violations of their rights.

When formulating the legal norm — a rule of conduct for the court — in paragraph 13 of part 1 of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees," the legislator used a distinction of the status of participants in the case without specifying the word "plaintiff," as in other provisions of this Law. This is a legislative technique used to clarify the true meaning of the formulated legal norm.

As a general rule, if a legal norm grants some right or guarantee to private law persons, the content of such a norm should be interpreted either literally or broadly, but not narrowly. The law enforcement body cannot reduce the scope of rights or guarantees granted by the legislator through narrow interpretation.

Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection" provides that persons covered by this normative act receive free legal assistance on issues related to their social protection and are also exempt from court costs related to the consideration of such issues.

The United Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court noted that a systematic interpretation of paragraph 13 of part 1 of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees" in conjunction with article 22 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection" indicates that the legislator does not link the payment/exemption from payment of court fees for combatants in cases where they defend issues related to their social protection to whether they have the status of plaintiff or defendant in the case.

Considering the above, the United Chamber of the Cassation Civil Court of the Supreme Court concluded that the appellate court, by recognizing the defendant's appeal as not filed due to his failure to pay the court fee on the decision by which the debt for housing and communal services was recovered from him as a combatant, because he is the defendant and not the plaintiff in the case, allowed a narrow interpretation of paragraph 13 of part 1 of article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Court Fees," which is incorrect.

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