Supreme Court clarified conditions under which it is possible to refuse mobilization due to religious beliefs
The Supreme Court named the criteria that a person liable for military service must meet in order to be able to refuse mobilisation on the grounds of religious belief.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Judiciary of Ukraine portal.
The Supreme Court formed the criteria after considering a case in which the defendant failed to confirm that he was a member of a religious organization. He also continued his military service for five months after he claimed to have converted to the faith.
In such circumstances, the court decided that the man had not proved that he could not perform military duty due to his religious beliefs.
The panel of judges concluded that freedom of religion has external and internal aspects. Therefore, when a person refuses to serve on grounds of conscience, he or she must not only confirm affiliation with a religious organization but also demonstrate that he or she has religious beliefs.
A person will not be liable for draft evasion if he or she confirms this:
- belonging to religious organizations operating in accordance with the current legislation, whose beliefs prohibit the use of weapons;
- sincerity of conviction conviction not only in words but also in consistent actions.
The court notes that currently, the refusal "requires ensuring an objective verification of a person's claims that his or her religious beliefs are incompatible with military service and confirmation by evidence of the existence of the relevant beliefs".
However, a person does not have to be a member of any of the registered religious organizations, whose followers are prohibited from serving in the army, carrying and using weapons.
"When refusing to serve in the Armed Forces for reasons of conscience, a person must demonstrate that he or she has the relevant deep, sincere and consistent religious beliefs by certain data, in addition to his or her own words and statements of close people," the decision of the Criminal Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court of Ukraine reads.
