The Supreme Court has established the jurisdiction for cases concerning the determination of cohabitation with a deceased serviceman.

The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court has determined the jurisdiction of cases regarding the establishment of the fact of living as one family with a deceased serviceman.

Recall that earlier “Judicial and Legal Newspaper” discussed the issue affecting the cases of civil unions of deceased servicemen in the courts. Specifically, the problem concerned the uncertainty about which court – civil or administrative – should handle this matter.

Finally, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court put an end to this issue when it reviewed the landmark case 560/17953/21 on January 18, 2024, regarding the jurisdiction of judicial cases initiated by the claims of civil unions of fallen Defenders of Ukraine, who are trying to establish the fact of living as one family with the deceased serviceman and receive appropriate assistance from the state as family members.

Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new version of the Procedure for appointing and paying a one-time assistance in cases of death (fatality), disability, or partial loss of working capacity without establishing disability for servicemen, military reservists, and those called up for training (or verification) and special gatherings or for service in the military reserve.

According to the circumstances of the case, the plaintiff appealed to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with a request for one-time financial assistance as a family member of the deceased serviceman. However, the Ministry of Defense’s commission denied her request for assistance due to a lack of evidence confirming her status as a family member of the deceased serviceman – the plaintiff did not provide a court decision establishing the fact of their living together as one family without marriage registration.

The Supreme Court, in its ruling dated January 18, 2024, in case No. 560/17953/21, concluded that the Ministry of Defense’s commission, in refusing the plaintiff's request for the designated assistance, acted within its authority and in accordance with the requirements of the law.

At the same time, the Supreme Court noted that there are two procedures for establishing facts with legal significance: extrajudicial and judicial.

If a refusal by the relevant authority to establish a legal fact that is to be established extrajudicially is appealed to the court, such a dispute should be considered in accordance with administrative court proceedings. Cases concerning the establishment of legal facts in a judicial manner are resolved by civil jurisdiction courts according to the rules of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine.

The Supreme Court concluded that cases regarding the establishment of the fact of living as one family without marriage with the deceased serviceman fall under civil court proceedings regardless of the purpose of the court appeal (in particular, confirming social status for the appointment and payment of one-time financial assistance to the serviceman's family) and the presence of certain civil rights and obligations of the applicant or the emergence of public law disputes with entities of public authority.