The Supreme Court figured out whether the summons is the only document on conscription into the army

How is one punished for failure to appear on a summons to the military registration and enlistment office for a medical examination?

Yesterday you celebrated your eighteenth birthday, and this morning you received a summons from the military registration and enlistment office. What does this mean? Only that the deadline for passing a medical examination has come, after which you will be registered, ordered to fill out a form for the military registration and enlistment office, and also assigned a fitness category, according to which you will (or will not) serve in the ranks of the Russian army.

Don't be scared! Right now you are not threatened with either a stylish hairstyle by ala Kotovsky or being sent to the unit.

Let's say more: conscripts who have every reason to hope to receive fitness categories B, G and D, upon arriving at the military registration and enlistment office upon request, will receive a deferment from service or a military ID much sooner.

Are you a college or university student? After receiving the first summons, take a certificate from your educational institution and feel free to go to the military registration and enlistment office. There is a legal deferment awaiting you until you graduate.

Punishment awaits you only if for some reason you do not appear at the commissariat upon first request. In this case, according to Article 21 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (points 5-6), you may be fined a small amount (within one hundred to five hundred rubles), but practice shows that you are not always subject to administrative penalties.

If you do not appear and after receiving a second summons notifying you of a re-examination, taking your measurements and delivering a notice according to which you must appear at the military commissariat to go to the place of military service, you will absolutely be subject to a penalty: a fine in the amount of five hundred rubles . In this case, the search for your person will fall on the shoulders of the military commissariat employees. Having met you in person, they will personally hand you a notice of dispatch to a military unit.

Legal deferment from the army

If there is no desire or opportunity to serve, the right decision would be not to run away from the military registration and enlistment office, but to submit all the necessary documents about the due deferment. There are plenty of legitimate reasons not to join the army; you just need to use them correctly. Then there will be no problems with the military registration and enlistment office and the law.

There may be several good reasons why a citizen of military age is exempted temporarily or permanently from service in the Armed Forces. They are divided into several groups.

Health deferments. After passing the medical commission, the conscript is assigned a health group. There are 5 of them in total.

Group “A” means that the young man is completely healthy and fit for service in any units and troops. Group “B” speaks of minor restrictions under which you can be sent to serve only in certain types of troops. Group “B” is assigned to young men who are immediately enlisted in the reserves and can only be called up in wartime according to the rules of mobilization. “G” - a deferment is granted, since the young man is recognized as temporarily unfit for health reasons. Usually for 6-12 months. After the end of the deferment, you must report to the military registration and enlistment office to undergo a second medical examination. Citizens with category “D” cannot serve due to health reasons.

Health is assessed by several specialist doctors in different fields. The overall group is set to the lowest. If a conscript has a diagnosis that requires a deferment or release, then the draft commission should have supporting documents, photographs, and hospital extracts. The more confirmation, the better.

Family circumstances. This is a large group of reasons why a young man may not join the army. First of all, these are cases when the conscript is a single father. The mother may abandon the child, die, or be deprived of parental rights. The next family reason is a seriously ill close relative whom the conscript is caring for or supporting. At the same time, it is important to understand that there should be no persons who can replace the young man in this matter.

Also, young people who have two or more children, as well as one child and a spouse in late stages of pregnancy, are not subject to conscription. In this case, the deferment is, in fact, for life, because it is provided until the children reach adulthood, and it will come later than the upper limit of conscription age.

A short deferment is provided if there is a disabled child. In this case, the young man will not serve in the army until the child is three years old, after which the citizen will again be subject to conscription. Guardians of their minor brothers and sisters are not called upon.

The most common reason for deferment is studying. In this case, there are several options:

• Deferment from the army for schoolchildren. Before receiving a certificate of general education, the conscript will be given a deferment until graduation. Usually such young men are called up in the fall, after October 1;
• For students of technical schools and colleges. Deferment is provided only in case of full-time study and up to 20 years. If a young man under the age of 20 has not completed college, he may well be drafted;
• Deferment for students of higher educational institutions. It is also necessary to study in a full-time educational program at a state university. In this case, the citizen is obliged to enroll after school, and this should not be a second higher education. The benefit is provided only once, for obtaining the first profession. If the learning process is not interrupted, then the deferment applies not only to bachelor’s degrees, but also to master’s degrees. Students of various kinds of religious institutions, such as seminaries, also have every right to defer until the end of their studies;
• Graduate students. Another reason not to go to serve. As a result, it turns out that if a young man immediately after school goes to study and goes through all levels of education in a row, from bachelor to graduate student, then he will not be able to serve, since when he graduates he will already be over 27 years old. In addition, according to the law, citizens with an academic degree are not conscripted into the army.

There are several reasons not to draft a young man into the army at all. This is completing alternative service, citizenship of another country or serving in the ranks of foreign armies.

What is the penalty for failure to appear on a summons to the military registration and enlistment office?

Do you continue to avoid military service at all costs? Unfortunately, if you fail to appear at the military commissariat after receiving two summonses, you automatically become a “draft dodger,” subject to other penalties. From now on, not only military registration and enlistment office employees will be interested in you, but also law enforcement agencies.

From now on, you are under criminal investigation and the punishment you face will affect not only your bank account, but also your future career:

• a fine for a large amount;
• forced labor;
• arrest;
• imprisonment.

Interestingly, after serving your sentence, you are not exempt from military service and, after a medical examination confirming your fitness, you are immediately sent to your unit. Exemption from military service can only be based on age.

Consequences of evading service

If a citizen does not have serious reasons not to perform military service, then he will not receive a military ID. In addition to fines and liability for evasion, other problems may arise. These include:

1. A reprimand from the employer or a fine;
2. Inability to work in government bodies and structures;
3. Dismissal;
4. Problems with official employment;
5. Inability to obtain a license to carry a weapon.
6. The rarest punishment, which applies exclusively to malicious draft dodgers, is imprisonment for up to 2 years.

What is the liability for failure to appear?

If you fail to appear at the military registration and enlistment office, you may be subject to administrative liability, which includes paying a fine.

You may be fined for the following reasons:

1. if you did not appear for a medical examination;
2. if you did not arrive at the military registration and enlistment office in order to register or withdraw from military registration;
3. if you have not provided information that your personal data has changed;
4. for other reasons.

Citizens who have completed military service, as well as those who have not been convicted of deliberately evading their duty to the Fatherland, are subject to administrative liability.

Persons who systematically evade military service, both military and alternative, are subject to criminal liability, according to Article 328 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - for example, if you, having received a summons, deliberately do not appear at the military commissariat or have gone to another country, just to avoid military service.

Procedure for receiving registered mail

According to the new bill, a registered letter with notification can be received not only by the conscript, but also by his immediate relatives. At the same time, they will sign the notification, and it will be considered that the conscript has received the summons. At the same time, the fact that the citizen may not be given a summons is not considered in favor of the conscript. There will still be administrative penalties for failure to appear.

Therefore, if there are no valid reasons for the deferment, as well as for receiving the deferment itself, the conscript must appear at the military registration and enlistment office even in the absence of a summons. Now it's the law. Now the conscript himself must take care that you are not considered a draft dodger. If there is no summons, show up at the military registration and enlistment office. There they may hand it over, but otherwise you can become a violator, which will seriously hit your wallet.

If the letter arrived after the date on which you were scheduled to come to the commissariat, then you must go there no later than 3 days after receiving the letter.

Fine

Conscripts and their relatives are concerned about the amount of the fine if they fail to appear at the military registration and enlistment office. According to the latest data:

1. if you do not appear at the military commissariat after receiving the first summons (for a medical examination), the amount of the fine you will have to pay ranges from one hundred to five hundred rubles;
2. if you ignored the second reminder, the amount of the fine increases to five hundred rubles;
3. if you do not appear at the military registration and enlistment office to be sent to a unit, you will be fined a large sum of money - from two hundred thousand rubles, if you do not work, to the amount of your earnings for the last year and a half, plus criminal prosecution in the form of forced labor, arrest for six months, or imprisonment for a term of two years.

As you can see, evading military duty will not bring you any benefit, but it can ruin your career and deprive you or your family of a large sum of money, not to mention a criminal record. Before you ignore the summons from the military registration and enlistment office, think about whether it is worth such sacrifices? Or would it be more honorable and easier to serve the required term and, perhaps, think about a military career in the future?

Who is freed

The regulations provide for cases when it is possible to obtain an exemption from participation in operations planned by the military registration and enlistment office. The following persons are exempt from participation in the training camp:

• Having reservations of enterprises and authorities (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Customs and Tax Services).
• Transport workers (air and railway transport).
• Employees of educational institutions of all categories and profiles.
• Agricultural workers during field work.
• Full-time students.
• Correspondence students during the period of graduation and passing the exam.
• Men raising 3 or more children.
• Having an outstanding criminal record.
• Military personnel demobilized and discharged within 2 years.

The list is not exhaustive, and the district military commissar has the authority to correct it.

Good reasons

The reason for failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office can be not only deliberate avoidance of military service, but also a number of valid reasons.

These include:

• injuries, serious injuries or illnesses that lead to your complete or temporary loss of ability to work;
• serious illness of one of your close relatives (parents, sister or brother, spouse, child and other family members who are under your care or support);
• the funeral of a close relative, which you are organizing or must attend;
• force majeure circumstances (man-made disaster, natural disaster) that prevented you from fulfilling your duty, regardless of your will and desire;
• other reasons, which, upon consideration by a judicial authority or military commissariat, are recognized as valid.

This does not mean that if there are such serious reasons, you may not appear at the military commandant’s office at all. If you cannot arrive at the military registration and enlistment office on the exact day indicated on the agenda, do so immediately after the circumstances that prevented this have been eliminated: your health will improve, your relatives will recover, the natural disaster will stop).

Keep in mind that by law the military registration and enlistment office must send you a written notice (summons), upon receipt of which you must give a receipt and put a personal signature. If the summons was not served on you personally (for example, it was given to your neighbor or simply dropped in the mailbox), you have the right not to appear at the military registration and enlistment office, since such actions are illegal.

Summarize. Attention should be focused on the following points:

1. You can be subject to administrative liability only for failure to appear on a paper summons delivered in person and confirmed by a receipt and your signature (telephone calls and oral summons have no legal force);
2. You can be subject to criminal liability only if you received several invitations for a medical examination and ignored every single one, or if you did not appear on the main summons;
3. other cases of your failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office without good reason threaten you, according to current legislation, with a fine in an amount not exceeding five hundred rubles.

Rules for serving draft summonses

The rules for serving military summonses to young people of military age by representatives of district commissariats are strictly regulated by current Russian legislation. If these rules are not followed, a conscript who fails to appear at the military registration and enlistment office cannot be held accountable.

The main rule is to hand over such a notice personally to the conscript against signature. The document will not have legal force if it was transferred through unauthorized persons (parents, other relatives, acquaintances, neighbors on site, etc.) or sent by Russian Post.

If the summons is served, as required by law, the young man has an obligation to appear at the conscription events at the local commissariat, otherwise he has the right to be brought to administrative or criminal liability.

If representatives of the district commissariat hand a summons personally into the hands of an applicant for military service, and he refuses to sign for its receipt, especially if this is not the first time, this action, in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Article 328 Part 1, can be interpreted as evasion of military service obligations. In such a situation, what is not so much scary is an administrative fine, but possible criminal liability in the form of arrest for repeated failure to appear at the district military registration and enlistment office and evasion of conscription activities.

The signing of any type of summons by a young person of military age is proof of its receipt. It is from this moment that the notification gains legal force. For the first time, for failure to appear on a summons on the specified date, a conscript may even get off with a verbal warning, or at most a small fine. But subsequent failures to appear will be regarded as deliberate evasion of military service, for which the law provides for higher fines and even imprisonment.

Reviews

Dear readers, you can leave your feedback about what happens if you don’t show up for a summons to the military registration and enlistment office in the comments, your opinion will be useful to other users of the site!

Artem, Shakhty

“In the eleventh grade I had a medical examination and they wrote: “unfit.” When I turned eighteen, they brought me a summons to the military registration and enlistment office. There they confirmed my unsuitability for military service, issued me a military ID and released me on all fours. So, if you are really sick and not trying to avoid the army, no one will drag you there. Another thing is that I don’t get a lot of joy from this: it’s better to be healthy, serve your assigned term and live to be a hundred years old than this...”

Oksana, Moscow

“My boyfriend had a duodenal ulcer, which was healed. He was hospitalized several times, there were notes about this in the outpatient card, but the card itself was not given to him and when he came to the military registration and enlistment office, he could not confirm the diagnosis. I tried to return the card, but the clinic said it was lost. He served, of course, but when the time came for my younger brother to go to the military registration and enlistment office, they did not let him take the outpatient card out of his hands; by hook or by crook they kept it with him. He has a heart defect and cannot climb stairs, much less serve in the army. He simply wouldn’t have survived there.”

Types of failure to appear at the district military registration and enlistment office

Failure to attend the commissariat can occur for various reasons. It is because of these existing grounds and the type of invitation to the organization that a citizen has a certain responsibility. According to the classification of calls to the district military registration and enlistment office, there are two types.

Ignoring a call to a medical examination

A summons that invites a citizen to go for a medical examination does not mean that he is being drafted into the army. This examination by specialists exists to determine the degree of suitability of a conscript for military service.

The medical board is first on the list of the preliminary conscription company. This is exactly the wording that should be reflected in the summons handed to a potential army member. The document is official in nature and must be completed in accordance with legal requirements.

The result of a commission examination of a potential warrior may be the following:

• Referral to military service.
• Conducting additional health examinations.
• Placement for inpatient treatment in a specialized medical institution.

Since the medical examination of conscripts and the results of this work are important for the activities of the entire conscription system, ignoring a visit to the military registration and enlistment office to undergo the necessary health examination will not be without consequences.

These include:

• imposition of penalties;
• prosecution under articles of the Criminal Code;
• opening of official prosecution and search activities in relation to the person who failed to appear;
• when a draft dodger is detected, a forced examination is ordered, which takes place within a more stringent framework than the standard procedure.

No-show at training camp

It is difficult for a citizen who has served in the Armed Forces and is in civilian life to find the strength to put himself back into the ranks of soldiers. Therefore, a received invitation to a gathering is often viewed as an undesirable event and ways are sought to avoid it.

For reference! Police officers do not have the authority to forcibly transport draft dodgers to the military registration and enlistment office. It is their responsibility to provide assistance in search activities.

It is important to know that such an action is equivalent to an offense according to the Code of Administrative Offences. For this purpose, the Code contains Article 21.5, which threatens a person who does not show up for training with an administrative fine.

In what cases is the questioning of a witness appointed?

Any Federal Law can act as a witness if it knows the facts that are important within the framework of a tax audit of a certain subject. Who determines whether any facts are known to the witness? Inspectors are doing this. They are not obliged to explain why a particular person was called in for questioning. If a person summoned for questioning does not agree with the inspector’s suspicions, this does not mean a violation of his rights.

However, a number of individuals cannot be summoned for questioning. In particular, these are the following persons:

• Persons who are not able to fully correctly understand the circumstances of interest to inspectors. In particular, these are children under 14 years of age and persons with mental disorders.
• Persons who have received data of interest to inspectors in connection with the performance of their professional functions. For example, these could be lawyers, priests, notaries. It is assumed that the data obtained is a professional secret.

If a person falls into these categories, he needs to tell the inspector about this before the interrogation procedure.

Search for conscripts evading receipt of summons

The agenda cannot be ignored!

If the summons is not delivered to the conscript in person, the military commissariat compiles lists of such people who have not received the summons and sends them to the police. A written appeal is also sent to local internal affairs bodies.

Police officers are obliged to find these citizens, establishing where they are, hand over summonses from the military commissariat personally, and hand over the counterfoils of the summonses with the conscript’s signature to the military registration and enlistment office.

No other actions are provided for conscripts. If police officers exceed their powers, their actions are subject to appeal in court. The reason for the forced transfer of a conscript is a ruling made against him. The determination is made based on the following reasons:

• the case of an administrative violation of a conscript is being processed by the military commissariat; the conscript is a witness in the case;
• the conscript was invited, but did not appear, to consider the case of an administrative violation;
• the conscript failed to appear several times for the consideration of the violation case.

The decision to transport a conscript is within the authority of the military registration and enlistment office official. The definition contains all the information about the conscript. The detention is documented in a protocol. It is prohibited to detain more than 3 hours and to transport a conscript at night from 22.00 to 6.00 local time.