Military serviceman died of a heart attack — The Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center blocked access to 15 million UAH, but the court sided with the family

The regional Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TRSSC) does not have the authority to independently decide whether the family of a deceased serviceman is entitled to a one-time financial assistance under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 168. Its duty is to prepare a conclusion, which may be either positive or negative, and together with the documents send it to the Ministry of Defense. It is the Ministry of Defense, as the main budget funds administrator, that is authorized to make the final decision on granting, refusing, or returning the documents for revision. This conclusion was reached by the Ternopil District Administrative Court.

Case circumstances

The mother of a serviceman who died during military service applied to the court. She submitted an application for the appointment of a one-time financial assistance in accordance with paragraph 2 of Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 168.

According to the conclusion of the military medical commission, the cause of death of the serviceman was acute cardiovascular failure due to an acute transmural myocardial infarction. At the same time, the military medical commission concluded that the disease that caused the death of the serviceman was related to the defense of the Fatherland.

Despite this, the regional TRSSC did not forward the documents to the Ministry of Defense. It proceeded from the fact that the serviceman died from a disease, not as a result of a wound, concussion, injury, or disability, and therefore believed that the payment issue should be resolved according to Article 16 of the Law "On Social and Legal Protection of Servicemen and Their Families" and Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 975. Because of this, the applicant’s documents were returned without further consideration by the Ministry of Defense.

Disagreeing with these actions, the serviceman’s mother appealed to the court.

Court’s position

The court noted that the Procedure approved by the Ministry of Defense Order No. 45 defines a clear procedure for processing documents for the appointment of one-time financial assistance.

After receiving the application, the district TRSSC accepts the documents and forwards them to the regional TRSSC. The regional TRSSC reviews the materials, prepares a conclusion — regardless of whether it is positive or negative — and together with the documents sends them to the Ministry of Defense.

It is the Ministry of Defense, as the main budget funds administrator, that is authorized to make decisions on granting one-time financial assistance, refusing it, or returning documents for revision. These issues are preliminarily reviewed by the Ministry of Defense Commission.

The court emphasized that the regional TRSSC had the right to express in its conclusion the position regarding the absence of grounds for payment under Resolution No. 168, but did not have the right to stop the application review procedure and not forward the documents to the Ministry of Defense. Thus, the defendant effectively assumed the powers of the body authorized by law to decide on granting or refusing assistance.

At the same time, in case No. 500/2824/26, the court specifically emphasized that it did not resolve the issue of whether the plaintiff is entitled to the one-time assistance of 15 million UAH. The determination of the existence or absence of such a right belongs to the competence of the Ministry of Defense after reviewing all submitted documents.

Court decision

The Ternopil District Administrative Court partially satisfied the claim.

The court recognized the actions of the regional TRSSC regarding the failure to prepare and forward the conclusion together with the documents to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine as unlawful. The court also obliged the TRSSC to prepare a conclusion on whether the applicant is entitled to one-time financial assistance and to send it together with the documents to the Ministry of Defense for a decision on granting or refusing the payment.

At the same time, the court refused to satisfy the demand to oblige the TRSSC to form a conclusion with a predetermined content. The court stated that the conclusion may be either positive or negative, but in any case, it must be sent to the Ministry of Defense, which makes the final decision.

Additionally, the court awarded the plaintiff 665.60 UAH in court fees.

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