Servicewoman requested discharge due to husband with disability group II: which document was missing

The Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal considered the appeal of a servicewoman against the decision of the Chernihiv District Administrative Court, which denied her claim against the military unit recognizing the refusal to discharge her from military service as unlawful and obliging the unit to make a decision on discharge due to family circumstances.

Case circumstances

The plaintiff was serving in the military and submitted a report to the military unit command requesting discharge in accordance with the eleventh paragraph of clause 3 of part twelve of article 26 of the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service" due to the need to provide constant care for her husband, who is a person with disability group II.

The report was accompanied by documents confirming the marriage, the husband's disability group II status, and other medical documents. The plaintiff believed that the submitted package of documents was sufficient to confirm the grounds for discharge from military service.

The military unit responded that it was not authorized to independently establish the need for constant care and could act only within the powers defined by law. The command stated that to exercise the right to discharge, a document confirming the husband's need for constant care, issued by an authorized body, must be provided.

Disagreeing with this response, the servicewoman went to court, considering the refusal to satisfy the report unlawful. The plaintiff requested to recognize the actions of the military unit as illegal and to oblige the commander to reconsider the report and discharge her from military service due to family circumstances.

The Chernihiv District Administrative Court denied the claim, noting that the submitted documents did not confirm one of the mandatory conditions for discharge — the need to provide constant care for a person with a disability.

In the appeal, the plaintiff insisted that such a need could be confirmed by medical documents, and the lifelong assignment of disability group II to her husband indicated the presence of grounds for discharge as provided by law.

Position and conclusions of the court

The panel of judges noted that according to the Constitution of Ukraine, state authorities and their officials are obliged to act solely on the basis, within the powers, and in the manner defined by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

The court pointed out that the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service" provides specific grounds for discharge of servicemen during martial law. One such ground is the need to provide constant care for a wife or husband who is a person with disability group I or II.

At the same time, the court emphasized that for the application of this norm, two interrelated circumstances must be present simultaneously: the presence of disability group I or II status in the husband or wife and a confirmed need for constant care.

The appellate court noted that the Regulations on military service by citizens of Ukraine in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the List of documents submitted for discharge of a serviceman explicitly define the list of documents confirming such grounds for discharge.

According to this List, the need for constant care must be confirmed by one of three documents: a conclusion of the medical-social expert commission, an extract from the decision of the expert team assessing the person's daily functioning, or a conclusion of the medical-consultative commission of a healthcare institution about the need for constant care.

The panel of judges noted that the use of the conjunction "or" by the legislator means the possibility of confirming the relevant circumstance by any of these documents, but the presence of at least one of them is mandatory.

The court established that the certificate from the medical-social expert commission only confirms the lifelong assignment of disability group II to the plaintiff's husband and his unfitness for regular work but does not contain a conclusion about the need for constant care.

The court also analyzed the submitted conclusion in form No. 080-4/o about the presence of impaired body functions due to which the person cannot move independently or self-care and requires social care services on a non-professional basis.

The panel of judges noted that such a document is not equivalent to a conclusion about the need for constant care. According to the court, the concept of "receiving social care services on a non-professional basis" does not mean continuous constant care, which is explicitly provided by law as a condition for discharge from military service. Moreover, the submitted conclusion does not contain information about the regularity or continuity of such care.

The appellate court also noted that the plaintiff did not provide either the conclusion of the medical-consultative commission or an extract from the decision of the expert team assessing the person's daily functioning, which would define the husband's need for constant care.

Separately, the court indicated that the healthcare institution certificate referred to by the plaintiff is not among the documents defined by law as confirmation of the need for constant care and therefore cannot be considered proper evidence.

Under these circumstances of case No. 620/10992/25, the panel of judges concluded that the submitted documents do not confirm one of the mandatory conditions for discharge from military service — the need to provide constant care for a husband with disability group II. The absence of proper documentary confirmation of this circumstance indicates the absence of grounds provided by law for discharge of a serviceman due to family circumstances.

In view of this, the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, leaving the decision of the Chernihiv District Administrative Court unchanged.

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