The Constitutional Court has opened proceedings regarding the constitutionality of part one of Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine on Alternative (non-military) service

Based on the panel's consideration, constitutional proceedings were initiated to address a constitutional complaint regarding the constitutionality of part one of Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine On Alternative (Non-Military) Service.

The subject of the constitutional complaint, a citizen of Ukraine, Dmytro Zelinsky, has filed a petition with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to review the compliance of part four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine (constitutionality) with part one of Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine On Alternative (Non-Military) Service of December 12, 1991, No. 1975-XII, according to which Alternative service is a service that is introduced instead of regular military service and aimed at fulfilling a duty to society.

According to the applicant, the disputed order only permits the substitution of regular military service with alternative (non-military) service, which is not currently available in Ukraine. This makes it impossible to exercise the constitutional right defined by part four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine. According to this right, if the performance of military duty contradicts the religious beliefs of a citizen, the duty must be replaced by alternative (non-military) service.

Please take note of the following information:

On August 29, 2023, the Ternopil Court of Appeal overturned the first instance court's decision and sentenced Mr. D. Zelinsky to three years in prison. The court found him guilty of committing a criminal offense under Art. 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and imposed a three-year prison sentence. Mr. Zelinsky, due to his religious beliefs, requested to fulfill his constitutional duty in an alternative way without weapons, based on part four of Article 35 of the Constitution of Ukraine.