Russia's Supreme Court has issued a ruling confirming the right of a mobilized Russian man to perform alternative civil service.
The human rights organization Conscript School reported on November 23 that the Supreme Court issued the ruling in a decision that recognized the possibility of alternative civil service during mobilization, pointing out the inconsistency of the law on mobilization with the Russian Constitution.
The constitution provides that people who are unable to perform military service due to their convictions may perform alternative civil service instead. The law on mobilization, however, does not stipulate the possibility of alternative service.
The Supreme Court decision was made on an appeal filed by the military registration and enlistment office in the case of Pavel Mushumansky, a resident of Russia’s Leningrad region who was conscripted during the so-called partial military mobilization in September 2022.
A court in St. Petersburg in March upheld his right to perform alternative civil service on the grounds of his religious beliefs.
Media reports at the time said that Mushumansky, an evangelical Christian, did alternative service in 2019 in place of his military service. But his request for a similar arrangement after being called up last year was rejected.
The military registration and enlistment office insisted Mushumansky take the oath, but he refused to take up arms.
The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor.
"All judicial authorities agreed with our position that the absence of a law providing for the procedure for the implementation of constitutional rights cannot deprive citizens of this right," lawyer Aleksandr Peredruk said of the decision.
According to the decision, when calling on citizens to mobilize, it is necessary to take into account the constitutional right to alternative civil service.