Statement of claim regarding limitation of pension payment

The concept of the maximum amount of pension was first put into effect by the Law “On measures for legislative support of the reform of the pension system”. It has number 3668-VI and is dated July 8, 2011. Amendments were made to Article 43 of the Law of Ukraine “On pension provision of persons discharged from military service and certain other persons”. Accordingly, these changes affected military personnel, as well as former police officers. Also, the aforementioned legal act amended Article 67 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Disaster.” Accordingly, these legislative changes also affected residents of Chernobyl. The team of the “Prikhodko&Partners” law firm employs lawyers for whom the lawsuit regarding the restriction of pension payment is a key tool used when defending the rights of our clients in such cases. Let’s talk about it in more detail.

What does the practice of KSU say?

If we talk about judicial practice in general terms, then in such cases the Constitutional Court is on the side of the pensioner and claims that the limitation of the maximum amount of the pension does not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine. Let’s consider specific solutions as an example.

So, when we talk about the pension of military and former police officers, the decision of the KSU dated December 20, 2016 № 7-rp/2016 is relevant here. It is also worth paying attention to the decision №  7-р(II)/2022 of October 12, 2022. These are just some examples of such decisions that the body of constitutional jurisdiction made regarding military pensioners.

In fact, there are many more such decisions that we use in our practice and refer to, because the team of our law office regularly monitors current court practice and knows what to rely on, protecting the rights and legitimate interests of our clients.

As for the pensioners of Chernobyl, there is also the decision of the Central Committee of Ukraine dated March 20, 2024 №  2-р(ІІ)/2024. As you can see, the case law is on your side.

Why don’t these solutions work by themselves?

Perhaps someone has a legitimate question about why the officials of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, despite the decisions of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, still continue to act contrary to them and limit the amount of pension for the mentioned categories of pensioners. Unfortunately, this trend can only be stated as a fact. And this fact shows that almost the largest number of lawsuits that come to administrative courts relate to cases where pensioners try to defend their rights in disputes with the PFU.

Nevertheless, the implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court is mandatory for everyone on the territory of our country. Therefore, the actions of representatives of the Pension Fund, when the constitutional rights of pensioners are violated, create a number of artificial restrictions.

It is worth noting that the courts of the first and second instance take into account the conclusions regarding the application of legal norms set forth in the decisions of the Supreme Court (this is provided by Part 5 of Article 242 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).

So when there is a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court in an exemplary case, it is binding for other similar cases. This is what we rely on, defending the rights of clients.
Further, court decisions passed by courts of first and second instance are also binding. This is stated in Article 129-1 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Articles 14 and 370 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. So, with this in mind, pensioners have no reason to refuse to defend their rights and legitimate interests in court. And with a team of professional specialists in pension law who work in the team of the Prikhodko&Partners law office, this can be done quite easily.

What services do we provide?

Our specialists offer the following services in this category of cases:

1. Consultancy. During the consultation, we will answer all your questions regarding the legal norms relevant to your situation, which you should use to defend your rights.
2. Legal support. It is about interaction with representatives of the Pension Fund while working on your case.
3. Representation in court. In the vast majority of situations, it is this stage that is the key, as it is the court decision in favor of the client that gives the opportunity to finally achieve that the restrictions on the size of the pension are removed.
4. Further support. We always submit a lawyer’s request to the PFU authorities regarding the execution of the court decision, with the aim that this issue does not drag on.

Thus, our law office is ready to provide you with full legal assistance in requests related to the removal of restrictions on the maximum amount of pension for military personnel, former policemen and citizens of Chernobyl. Apply and get an opportunity to defend the amount of pension that is really provided for you by the current legislation.