The maximum amount of pensions for military personnel

The maximum amount of the military pension is determined by the Law of Ukraine "On pension provision of persons released from military service". As stated in Article 43 of this regulatory act, the maximum amount is limited to 10 subsistence minimums. It would seem that this could be the end, but the Constitutional Court of Ukraine once said a decisive word about the inconsistency of the mentioned article with the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine. This issue should be considered in more detail, and it should first be noted that the team of the law firm Prikhodko&Partners is regularly faced with client inquiries on the mentioned topic. And we know what we should do to ensure that the rights of our clients are upheld and protected.

So what does the Constitutional Court say?

In the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine dated 20.12.2016 № 7-рп/2016 in case № 1-38/2016, it is clearly stated that the legal norm regarding the limitation of the maximum amount of the military pension violates important constitutional guarantees. It is about the unconditional provision of social protection for persons mentioned in Part 5 of Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine. These are the persons entrusted with the duty to protect the inviolability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Therefore, the provisions highlighted in the 2nd sentence of Part 7 of Article 43 of the Law of Ukraine № 2262 contradict the constitutional norm, which has absolute priority.

Let's turn to one more decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which refers to the inconsistency of another law with the norms of the Constitution. This is the decision dated October 12, 2022 № 7-r(II) /2022 in case № 3-102/2021 (231/21, 415/21). There is also a reference to the rule regarding the maximum amount of a military pension of 10 subsistence minimums, but the judges refer to Article 2 of Law of Ukraine № 3668. This legal act has the full title "On measures to ensure legislative support for the reform of the pension system" and also fixes the above-mentioned provision . And, once again, representatives of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine authoritatively state that limiting the size of pensions to military personnel violates constitutional norms.

What to do with it?

Despite the availability of such decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in open access, a retired serviceman often encounters a completely different state of affairs in practice. He is forced to defend his rights in court. And for this you need the help of a good lawyer. You can find such a specialist in the team of the Prikhodko&Partners law office, as we specialize in such requests.

To date, there is established judicial practice on the mentioned issue. So we know how to present the client's rights in such a way that he wins the case. If we talk about the stages of legal support, they are as follows:

• Complete analysis of the case. Before taking on the representation of the client's interests, we carefully study the case. We rely on our many years of experience, but at the same time we do not use standard solutions.
• Submission of a lawyer's request regarding pension provision and establishment of the fact of limitation of the maximum amount of pension. Such a request becomes the first step that helps to move the matter from a dead point.
• Preparation of the entire evidence base and administrative claim. In the future, this evidence base will form convincing arguments in court in favor of our client.
• Full support of the case in court. This is the key stage, which is followed by a positive decision on the case, which we achieve thanks to our experience and professionalism.

We will help you effectively defend your rights.