TCCs have no right to detain or forcibly deliver citizens — Court ruling
The Third Administrative Court of Appeal has issued a ruling in case No. 160/6554/25. Employees of Territorial Centres for Recruitment and Social Support (TCCs) do not have the right to independently detain citizens or forcibly bring them to a TCC.
This is stated in the court document.
Such actions are unlawful, and the authority to carry out administrative detention and forced delivery belongs exclusively to the police.
“Only police officers have the authority to carry out administrative detention and forcibly deliver a citizen to a TCC. Servicemen who carry out the notification of persons liable for military service do not have such authority,” the court ruling states.
The case concerned a man from the Dnipropetrovsk region who, at the end of November 2024, was forcibly taken by unknown individuals to a TCC facility, where he was held for four days.
Following a military medical commission (MMC), he was deemed fit for service. However, the claimant stated that he had not received, under personal signature, a conscription notice, a referral to the MMC, or the relevant medical documents, and that he had refused to undergo the commission.
On 1 May 2025, the Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court dismissed the claim. The appellate court overturned this decision, declaring unlawful the order of the head of the TCC regarding conscription for military service during mobilisation. The court ordered the military unit to remove the man from the personnel lists and discharge him.
The court emphasised that TCC employees may only initiate detention if a person is wanted for ignoring summonses, but physical detention and delivery may be carried out exclusively by the police. Independent actions by TCC representatives involving detention, holding individuals, and processing documents without proper legal grounds were recognised as violations of the law.
This decision creates an important precedent in the practice of challenging mobilisation actions during martial law. It confirms that violations of the procedures for notification, delivery of summonses, and medical examinations may lead to conscription being declared unlawful.
Up-to-date information on the rights of persons liable for military service, the procedure for serving summonses, and appealing the actions of TCCs is recommended to be checked on official resources, including the websites of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Similar court decisions may influence practice across the country amid the ongoing mobilisation.
Previously, in the Volyn region, law enforcement officers exposed a TCC official who, in exchange for money, removed persons liable for military service from wanted lists. According to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the scheme allowed men to obtain deferments and avoid mobilisation.
