When is the summons considered served?

In October 2024, legislation established the possibility of sending summonses by mail. This confused many people, especially those who did not update their data and did not indicate their current address. Now, a summons sent by mail to the address of registration will be considered served, even if the conscript did not pick it up. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the content of the new legislative norms and find out what exactly has changed in the procedure for serving summonses and when a summons is considered served.

And if you need a more detailed personal consultation on this topic, you can contact the specialists of the Prіkhodko&Partners law office. We also provide other legal services relevant to clients in the field of military law. In the meantime, we offer a more detailed look at what has remained unchanged in the order of service of summonses, and what has changed.

Place of service of summons

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, when the current legal norms were still in the transformation stage, there were numerous discussions about whether it was legal to serve subpoenas in public places, and not at a person's place of residence or work. Today, both legislators and legal practitioners are unanimous in the fact that the place of delivery of the summons does not affect the legality of the procedure. Therefore, it is completely legal when summonses are served in public places. At the same time, a conscript should know what the requirements are for issuing the summons itself, and in which cases he can really refuse to take it without any sanctions. More on that later. For now, let's touch on the issue of summonses by mail.

The procedure for serving summons in 2024: what has changed?

So, in October, the legal norms came into force, according to which representatives of the TCC and SP can now send a summons by mail to the address where the conscript is registered. And if before that only the summons that was received personally and under signature was considered served, then today a lot has changed. So what subpoena is considered served? There are several answer options here:

• the one given by the postman for the conscript to sign;
• the one that the conscript refused to receive and the postman made a corresponding mark;
• the one that came to the place of registration of the conscript, but he does not live there, and later the summons was returned to the sender (ie TCC).

As you can see, refusing to collect the summons in person now has no effect on whether it will be considered served. And that is why it is worth knowing that if a conscript does not pick up the summons within 3 days, and then does not appear with it at the TCC within 14 days, he faces heavy fines. They reach 17-25.5 thousand hryvnias.

Is it legal to serve a summons on relatives?

This question is also quite often asked by clients to lawyers working in the field of military law. The fact is that similar cases have happened, so conscripts are interested in how it is interpreted from the point of view of legislative norms.

Delivery of summonses to relatives is against the law. If there is a person who receives a summons, then he must be personally conscripted. Or the mechanism with sending summons by mail, which was discussed above, is relevant. At the same time, it is not possible for relatives to receive a summons. The practice of the Supreme Court of Ukraine shows that a summons received by relatives is considered improperly served. Therefore, it does not create an obligation to appear before the TCC.

When the content of the subpoena does not correspond to the law?

If the subpoena contains the information of the conscript or does not have the seal of the TCC and the signature of the commissioner, its content is contrary to the law. It is also important to know that the legislation provides for a clear and comprehensive list of authorized persons who have the right to serve a summons. So if they try to serve it on you through an intermediary who is not authorized to perform such actions, you are not obliged to accept such a summons.

Also, clients often ask questions about how to check whether there is a summons to the army. Currently, the way to check the summons is to receive it in person.

What else should you know about subpoenas?

Another of those questions that lawyers are often asked - what does a subpoena for clarification of data mean. Such a summons is given to a conscript when it is necessary to update information about him in the TCC registers. There are also summonses to the VLK and mobilization orders.

Therefore, the norms of the current legislation regarding the delivery of subpoenas have changed significantly. Therefore, conscripts should at least know them in general terms in order to feel confident when interacting with the TCC. And if you need professional personal legal assistance, the lawyers of the "Prіkhodko&Partners" law firm in the field of military law provide the following services:

1. Consultancy. Learn about the legal norms that are most relevant in your situation. So you won't have to work out a large array of constantly changing legislation on your own.
2. Legal support. When your interaction with the TCC is accompanied by a professional lawyer-practitioner who specializes in the field of military law, it prevents officials from overstepping their authority.
3. Representation of interests in court. If the rights of a conscript are violated, this method of influencing the situation is quite effective.

If you need legal support, contact us on the website or fill out the feedback form - and we will call you back.