A man suffering from epilepsy was mobilized and appointed as a driver in one day: the court recognized the conscription as illegal

The Lviv District Administrative Court recognized the conscription of a reservist suffering from epilepsy as unlawful. The court established that at the time of mobilization, the man had not yet completed the repeated military medical examination assigned by the higher Military Medical Commission (MMC), and therefore the military commissariat did not have a valid conclusion regarding his fitness for military service.

Circumstances of the case

The plaintiff appealed to the court because he believed that he was mobilized in violation of the procedure established by law.

After passing the military medical commission in August 2025, he was recognized as fit for military service in certain categories of military units. However, the man disagreed with this conclusion and appealed it to the 16th Regional Military Medical Commission of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Following the complaint review, the regional MMC ordered a control medical examination. Later, the regular MMC did not approve the decision of the lower commission due to an unfounded clinical-expert diagnosis and determination of fitness level, and the plaintiff was sent for a repeated examination and a new medical check-up. In March 2026, he was notified of the need to undergo the control examination.

Despite this, on April 14, 2026, with the assistance of the police, the man was brought to the military commissariat, conscripted for military service during mobilization, and appointed as a driver of a military unit. The control medical examination ordered by the regular MMC had not been conducted by that time. After mobilization, in May 2026, he was again sent for the MMC examination. The plaintiff also noted that he suffers from epilepsy and had a seizure in the military commissariat building on the day of conscription.

The military commissariat opposed the lawsuit. The defendant argued that determining the fitness level is exclusively within the competence of military medical commissions, and the MMC certificate issued in August 2025 remained valid. Furthermore, the defendant insisted that the conscription order is an individual act of one-time effect that has already been executed, and the legislation does not provide for dismissal from military service by canceling it.

What the court stated

The court emphasized that according to the Law "On Military Duty and Military Service" and the Regulation on Military Medical Expertise, a mandatory prerequisite for conscription during mobilization is the establishment of a person’s fitness for military service based on a valid MMC conclusion. Without such a conclusion, lawful conscription is impossible.

The court found that after reviewing the plaintiff’s complaint, the question of his fitness for military service remained unresolved. The previous MMC conclusion was questioned by decisions of a higher-level commission, and the scheduled control medical examination was not conducted before conscription. Under these circumstances, the military commissariat did not have a valid and proper MMC conclusion that could serve as a lawful basis for conscription.

The court also rejected the defendant’s argument that the military commissariat does not evaluate medical conclusions. The court noted that the dispute concerned not the MMC decisions but the actions of the military commissariat, which had to ensure the presence of lawful grounds for conscription, including a valid conclusion on the person’s fitness for military service.

Position regarding the Supreme Court’s practice

The Lviv District Administrative Court noted that the Supreme Court has repeatedly stated in its practice that a conscription order is an individual act that, after execution, exhausts its effect, and the conscription procedure during mobilization is irreversible.

At the same time, in case 380/7500/26, the court pointed out that this case differs from the cited legal positions. It concluded that the plaintiff was conscripted without fulfilling the mandatory prerequisite — the presence of a valid MMC conclusion on fitness. Under such specific circumstances, canceling the conscription order is an appropriate and effective way to protect the violated right.

Court decision

The Lviv District Administrative Court partially satisfied the claim. The court recognized as unlawful and canceled the conscription order for the plaintiff during mobilization, as well as the derivative order appointing him as a driver.

Additionally, the court obliged the defendant to release the plaintiff from military service and remove him from the personnel lists.

The court noted that although the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service" does not explicitly provide illegal mobilization as a separate ground for dismissal, in this case, military service became a direct consequence of the conscription order, which was recognized as unlawful. Therefore, in the court’s opinion, to fully restore the violated rights, the proper remedy is also the dismissal of the plaintiff from military service and his removal from the personnel lists.

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