The role of Court in cases of bringing to vicarious responsibility of military servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Abstract

Considering Ukraine’s focus on increasing the state’s defence potential, the state of military discipline in recent years has become important for independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, both due to aggression of a foreign enemy as an external factor and given the increase in the number of people having the status of military servicemen as an internal factor. At the same time, due to the obsolescence and imperfection of provisions of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, including in terms of settlement of the issue of transformation of general responsibility of servicemen into special (administrative into disciplinary) responsibility, it is extremely difficult for courts to decide on the consideration procedure of administrative offence cases involving special subjects — military servicemen, conscriptees, and reservists during the meeting, which leads to the pluralism of judicial practice in this matter and has a negative impact on its unity and the general attitude of the population to the authority of military service. The article analyzes the practical issues that arise when judges of district, city district, municipal, or municipal district courts apply the provisions of Article 15 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences. In particular, the positions of judges on the stage of court proceedings at which materials on administrative offences have to be transferred to the body authorized to bring to disciplinary responsibility have been studied. The Disciplinary Regulations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been analyzed for the procedure for consideration of administrative offences materials. The ways to handle issues of concern have been suggested together with conclusions on expediency of their implementation.