The Office of the Military Ombudsman has drawn up a series of legislative initiatives that would significantly change the rules for granting deferrals from mobilisation for certain categories of citizens, citing a publication by Lyudmyla Denisova.
It is proposed to significantly tighten conditions for families in which there are people with disabilities. Above all, parents of under‑18 children with disabilities will bear the brunt.
The bill’s authors propose to abolish the right to a deferral for such families if the child under 18 has both parents. Protection from mobilisation is planned to be left only for those liable for military service who have no other relatives obliged to raise the child, or if the family is raising two minors, one of whom has the status of a person with a disability.
The very same restrictions are to be extended to families raising seriously ill children who do not have officially recognised disability status.
Rules will also be tightened for those whose wife or husband is in disability group I, II or III. The last group concerns cases defined by law, including oncological diseases, the absence of limbs, or certain other health disorders.
The Military Ombudsman proposes to tighten the requirements for granting deferrals to relatives who care for people with disabilities. For now the changes exist only as a draft bill and are not in force, but such proposals have provoked a wave of criticism from lawyers. According to human rights activist Lyudmyla Denisova, “such initiatives will significantly narrow the rights of families who raise sick children or care for relatives.”
