Disobedience of serviceman is considered crime even in absence of serious consequences - Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled that disobedience of a military officer is a crime with formal elements, so criminal liability for it does not depend on the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Supreme Court's ruling of 23 May.
The relevant conclusion was made in the case of a senior contract soldier sentenced to 5 years in prison for refusing to comply with a verbal order from a deputy brigade commander.
What are the consequences?
The investigation found that on 21 June 2022, he refused to comply with the order of the deputy brigade commander and go to the command and observation post to perform tasks as part of his company. This, according to the investigation, could have led to a breakthrough by Russian troops in this area.
The defense argued that there were no specific grave consequences of the serviceman's disobedience, so there was no reason to believe that he had caused damage to public relations.
However, the Supreme Court concluded that disobedience violated the procedure for command and control of troops set out in military regulations and impeded the normal performance of tasks by military units.
According to the judges, this act causes significant harm to public relations in the area of the established procedure for military service, which is protected by criminal law and is capable of creating a real threat of causing such harm, which determines its public danger.
"Thus, the disobedience committed by the convicted person under martial law, even in the absence of specific grave consequences, is an act characterized by all the elements of the crime under Part 4 of Article 402 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and undoubtedly constitutes a public danger inherent in the crime," the ruling says.
Given this, the CCU upheld the verdict of the court of appeal.
The Supreme Court's ruling comes into force from the moment it is announced, is final, and cannot be appealed.
