The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized as lawful the denial of demobilization before reaching the age limit

The Constitutional Court of Russia has confirmed the legality of the demobilization norms concerning the setting of a military service age limit of 65 years for contract servicemen during mobilization. The ruling was published on the court's website.

This issue was considered in connection with the complaint of military officer Igor Mikheevsky, who challenged the refusal to dismiss him from the army after reaching the age of 50 in accordance with Article 49 of Federal Law No. 53 of March 28, 1998 "On Military Duty and Military Service".

He argued that the age limit of 65 years was set by Art. 4 of the later adopted law No. 269-FZ of June 24, 2023 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation".

Having studied the materials, the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation found no grounds to accept the complaint for consideration, agreeing with the position of the lower courts.

They recalled that contractual service during mobilization is regulated in a special way, and legal relations during this period differ in comparison with the usual conditions of military duty. In addition, the law of 2023 refers to those persons who concluded a contract exactly from the moment of its entry into force.

It is also noted that the presidential decree of September 21, 2022 № 647 "On the announcement of partial mobilization" provides for dismissal from military service on certain grounds, including on reaching the maximum age.

Earlier, on October 17, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that the annual plan for manning the Russian Armed Forces with contract servicemen had been fulfilled by 78% as of the middle of last month. He noted that the work on manning will continue and that "quite decent" rates have been gained.