Calculation of pensions for years of service to military personnel

Military retirement pensions are one of the common topics with which clients seek legal advice, as well as support in the form of representation when interacting with authorized state bodies and directly in court. Indeed, in most cases, the attempt to prove one's right and defend legal rights and interests before the Pension Fund ends precisely because of the involvement of the court. Especially in situations where the complexity of the current legislation allows officials to interpret certain norms at their own discretion. However, when the law and case law are on the side of our clients, we know how to act in such cases. Let's consider the issue in more detail from a legal perspective.

What does the current legislation say?

The profile normative legal act, which regulates the issue of calculating pensions for military personnel, is Law № 2262 entitled "On pension provision for persons discharged from military service and certain other persons." In particular, Article 13 of this Law requires special attention. It refers to the specific amounts of pensions for years of service. In particular, military personnel with 20 years of service are mentioned - they are provided with a pension in the amount of half of the financial support. Pensions of police and NABU employees are also indicated.

The article also contains a provision for cases where a person retires due to health conditions. Then a little more provision is provided. For each year of service after the minimum 20 years, an additional 3% of the cash benefit is accrued.

The maximum amount of the pension, according to Art. 13 of the Law of Ukraine № 2262, should not be more than 70% of the financial support. Exceptions are persons who, during their service, participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. If we are talking about the I category, then this is 100% of the financial support, and if we are talking about the II category, then it is 95%.

What does court practice say?

Here it is worth referring to the exemplary case of the Supreme Court dated February 4, 2019 № Pz/9901/58/18 (№ 240/5401/18). The plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court with a statement regarding the illegal actions of the PF administration in Zhytomyr region, when the pension assigned to him in the amount of 83 % of the financial support was reduced to 70 % on the basis of Cabinet resolutions № 704 and № 103. The claimant received a certificate from the local TCC dated March 20, 2018, which stated that his pension is now calculated in accordance with the new norm of 70 % of the financial support.

Arguing his position, the plaintiff noted that the scope and content of social guarantees cannot be narrowed by changing the legislation, and the legal relationship between a citizen and the state in the matter of pension provision arises at the moment of the right to the appointment of a pension. Also, the soldier motivated his opinion by the fact that the appointment of a pension and its recalculation are different procedures in terms of their content, therefore, the PF had no right to transfer up to 70% of the monetary support of the already assigned pension.

Representatives of the Pension Fund denied the claim, but the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiff. So, if you have a similar problem, then know that both legislation and court practice are on your side. Moreover, it is much easier to defend one's legitimate interests according to an established algorithm when there are those who have already created a corresponding precedent.

Taking a risk...

The team of the "Prikhodko&Partners" law office will help its clients to resolve issues related to the fair assignment of a military pension based on years of service. So contact us - we will make the necessary efforts and use our successful experience to serve you as well.